Chapter 5 4 Basic principles of computers

After talking for a long time, you must still not understand what a computer is. Don't worry, in this section, I will introduce some basic principles.If you find it boring, I advise you to take a quick look at the flowers first, and then look at it carefully later if you are interested.Because only in these details can you fully understand what kind of tricks the computer monster is playing.Furthermore, unless you don't want to destroy the idol worship of computers, otherwise, you will clearly understand that computers are so simple and ignorant! To see how ignorant computers are, just look at this example.If one plus one thousand is used, even elementary school students will immediately know that it is one thousand and one.But the computer is in big trouble. It has to add one to ten.Perhaps, if you have studied computers, you will say: nonsense!We don't have such trouble writing programs.Don't forget that the programs you write are specially arranged by people, including the minimum machine code, which are used by people to help computers simplify their actions.Since we want to understand the basic principles of computers, we must start with its most primitive functions.

First of all, we need to know that there is a timing pulse in the center of the computer.It vibrates hundreds of thousands to millions of times per second, and every time it vibrates, a signal is generated.This signal came from nothing, and then from nothing.When there is a signal, a fixed voltage (positive five volts) is sent to all connected lines.When this existence and non-existence are repeated and changes two million times per second, we call it 2MHZ, that is, two million hertz. Now you should see the meaning of zero and one. The aforementioned oscillation, sometimes the voltage is 5 volts, is equivalent to 1, and sometimes it is equivalent to 0.This kind of number is a kind of law for the clock pulse, they are always interdependent, one after the other, never separated.The 0 and 1 of this law are the synchronous basis for identifying all signals. Because it is simple and clear, the computer is simple and clear.

The question is, what is the synchronization basis?If you have seen war movies, before the dawn attack, the whole battalion officers and soldiers gather, and the commander declares: Check the watch!The company and platoon leaders immediately prepared the watch carefully.The commander said: 5:10 and 3 seconds!Everyone set the watch immediately, (of course, it is not easy to adjust the second hand, but you have to try to record the difference, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.) Then, various actions are carried out on time. The attacking troops should try their best to go deep into the enemy's territory, while the rear support firepower is ready to stand by. At the appointed time, every second is not bad, and the bombardment of the position begins.At this time, if the troops on the front line seek cover too early, they may lose a good opportunity to attack;

In computers, synchronization is more important than anything else.As mentioned earlier, the timing pulses vibrate two million times per second, that is, each pulse takes up two millionths of a second, which is equal to 0.5 microseconds in terms of terms.In other words, there are two million actions that need to be distinguished every second. If they are not synchronized and each sings its own tune, wouldn't the world be in chaos? Therefore, the computer's center checks all signals according to this synchronization pulse.In other words, as long as the computer center does not have emotions, it must be invariable, checking two million signals per second (of course, it is not so simple, but this is enough for you to understand it).

As for how to check the signal?In the hub, there are many gates.The so-called gate, that is, the inspection station, is responsible for checking all passing signals and deciding what to do according to the content of the signal.Obviously, the signal is the protagonist, and we must first explain what a signal is. Signals are made up of zeros and ones just like clock pulses, but with one difference.The arrangement of clock pulses is eternal, but the signal must change. Otherwise, all signals are equal. Doesn't it mean that there is no signal? Let's further explain: the clock pulse is equal to a standard that passes through a checkpoint gate at a fixed speed of 0.5 microseconds. Every time the gate is opened, it is checked whether there is voltage passing through.Therefore, in every second, there may be zero to two million voltage responses detected, and these detected responses are the signals.

Well, the gate has checked the signal, and then decides the next action according to the nature and content of the signal. I believe everyone still doesn't understand what the signal is?We all talk about information and we all know that information is data and information.But if you ask further what is data and what is information, it will be a shame!Simply put, data is static and information is dynamic.Therefore, the two are actually two aspects of one body, and information can be said to be the form of static recording or dynamic transmission of all phenomena. Information is not a new gadget. It has been flooding the universe long before humans ran out of the jungle.The chirping of birds is information, the wrestling of rhinoceros is also information, and even the twinkling of stars and the sunspot activity of the sun are not information?It's just that we can't do without the human standpoint, so we temporarily avoid those unpredictable and profound signals in a narrow sense, but the signal is a kind of identification data determined after thinking about human concepts.

This is simple. We have already understood that the computer can only distinguish between on and off or voltage and no voltage actions, and we also recognize it as two numbers of 0 and 1.Since computers only know 0 and 1, how can we let computers handle so many complicated tasks? Let's take a look at binary numbers, and assume: 0+0+0, 1+0+1 then, 1+1+? correct!Since it is a binary digit, it means that 2 should be carried. Just like in decimal digits, ten should not be written as a single digit. Let’s assume again: 1+1=10, similarly, 10+1=11, 11+1=100 This kind of addition is very simple, only 0 and 1 carry on.Obviously, you can see that the more digits, the larger the value it can represent, but how to use it?

If the computer is only for calculating numbers, it would be easy. Today's computers are getting worse and worse. They can actually play chess, match people, and pour juice. These cannot be solved by numbers. Fortunately, the computer was born in a foreign country, otherwise it would be confused by Chinese characters.Because in the Kangxi dictionary, there are more than 40,000 Chinese characters!The number of letters in the Western Pinyin language family varies.Taking English as an example, there are 26 characters, and if they are case-sensitive, it is 52, plus 10 Arabic numerals, 32 punctuation and symbols, etc., and there are only 94 characters in total.

Based on these 94 numbers, add some special commands as control, add seven and eight, and add to 128 types, which is exactly 7 multiplications of 2.That is to say, it is exactly equal to the binary seven-digit number.The seven-digit number is annoying because it is not a multiple of 2, and it is necessary to ensure correctness in data transmission.Therefore, an eighth digit is specially added for inspection, so the eight-digit binary number becomes the most basic structure of a computer. Furthermore, there are a total of 256 permutations and combinations of eight-digit binary numbers (256 refers to decimal numbers, if you are interested, you may wish to add one to see, only 1 and 0 are allowed, according to binary addition , after entering the eighth time, just added 256 times).In these 256 permutations and combinations, all English letters, punctuation marks, numbers, etc. have been included.Therefore, this basic structure can cooperate with the above-mentioned institutions, and can represent various messages that the English language family intends to express.

Everyone must want to know, what about Chinese?Is this method we can't use?If not, what should we do? These are the main things we want to discuss.We should not underestimate ourselves. Computers are developed by humans, and human identification of signals is not innate and immutable.Therefore, as long as we can grasp the principles of computer design and the characteristics of signals, and then improve it according to our way of thinking, as long as we work hard enough, Chinese computers will definitely not lose to English computers.