Foundations · Module 01
Almost everyone learns computing from the top down and never closes the gap to physics. Start at the bottom instead: a switch, then a gate, then arithmetic, then a machine.
By the end of this module
You can trace a path from a transistor to an executing instruction without any magic steps.
Why two states and not ten?
Shimon Schocken & Noam Nisan
You build a working computer from a single NAND gate upward. The best CS course in existence, and completely free.
Harvard University
Free, world-class, and famous for a reason.
How does a switch become a decision?
Paul Falstad
Wire up gates and watch the signals propagate.
How does a pile of gates add?
Where does the machine's sense of 'before' and 'after' come from?
Check yourself
Every answer comes with the reasoning, not just a verdict. Getting one wrong and reading why is the point.
01Binary is used because:
02NAND is called universal because:
03What gives a circuit memory?