On Oct 7, 8:24 am, Rajib Kumar Bandopadhyay <
bkpsusmi...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Dear friends,
> =======================================================
> I have been toying with an idea for a long time. How can I delve into the
> history of Programming language and CPU - how to watch with my own eyes
> and understand their demerits?
"watch with your own eyes"?
I'm sure you can find books on how CPUs work. Long ago there was the
Penguin Book of Computing (even the Ladybird Book of Computers was
surprisingly good[*}). Long ago I read a book that dissected a CPU
down to the gate level but I forget the title.
"High Performance Computing" may be a bit more than you want but again
it picks the CPU apart down a very low level.
Look for history of CPU design.
Programming language history I'd have though was widely available
though I can't really come up with something right away.
> Timeline_of_programming_languages ,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
> Analytical_engine and others, but how to watch things happening in an
> actual machine, learn how to program it and then understanding the
> earlier paradigm by programming it myself.
you want an emulation of a CPU?
> Just like I have learnt the basics of physics and mathematics by first
> principles, I wish to follow the same route by delving into history and
> operations of these computational machines.
and of course there's the Other Way. Read up on Church and learn
Lambda Calculus.
"computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about
telescopes"
I'd say learn a programming language first (if you don't already know
one). I usually recommend Python it's got a clean simple syntax and
comes with a lot of good libraries. I'm learning Lua at the moment and
that seems a nice little language.
> I am being naive, but will someone help me on this? Since you guys are
> deeply into coding you would be the best ones to guide me on this?
> =======================================================
> Hope you help me regarding this. I am a novice.
> Regards
> Rajib Bandopadhyay
>
> --
> Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem (i686); C Library : GNU C Library version
> 2.11.3 (stable); Default C Compiler : GNU C Compiler version 4.4.5
> (Debian 4.4.5-8); Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.3; Squeeze; GNOME 2.30.2
[*] if you saved up 20 (I forget the actual number) tops off smarty
tubes they'd send you the Ladybird Book of Computers. Ladybird books
are aimed at children under 11 (they are also used as a joke "well if
you want it explained down to the Ladybird book level...". At my then
workplace this would be funny to leave lieing around. To our
disappointment it turned at to be a reasonable intruction to basic
computing.