October 2012
Intermediate to advanced
1176 pages
27h 33m
English
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Hardware, Firmware, and Software Demystified
Hardware is any physical device used by the computer, whether internal to the computer (such as the CPU on the computer’s motherboard) or attached externally to the computer. A discrete hardware component that performs a given function is generally referred to as a hardware device or just device for short. You can use numerous types of hardware devices with a computer. Printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, monitors, disk drives, digital cameras, iPods, MP3 players, modems, and routers are all examples of hardware devices.
Before we describe firmware, it helps to get a better understanding of software. Software is program code that is written to perform a given function. For example, all of the program code that makes up WordPad is software. Likewise, all of the program code that constitutes Windows 8 is software.
Device drivers are also software. A device driver is a program that serves as an intermediary between a piece of hardware and an application or the operating system. For example, a display driver enables Windows 8 to communicate with and control your computer’s display. Likewise, a printer driver enables Windows 8 to communicate with and control a printer.
Firmware is also software, in the context that it is program code. The difference is in how the program code is stored. Firmware is program code stored in a hardware device, typically in read-only memory. For example, the program code that makes your Apple iPad or your digital ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.