The Power of Two

One of my more favorite "Junk Food"** tech books is written by none other than Charles Petzold.  That book?

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

What I absolutely *LOVE* about this title (beyond the fact that it's written by Charles Petzold) is the ease and elegance in which Mr. Petzold teaches us about something very near and dear to his heart: The connection between what we as humans can understand and use to describe what it is we would like for a computer to do, and what computers can understand to do what it is we humans are asking for it to do, otherwise referred to as "Code" and "Binary", respectively.

Just after the Preface, and just before Chapter One exists a reference to the definition for code (with those unrelated to computing removed for sake of relevance) as per the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.  We can find this same referenced entry @ Dictionary.com,

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/code

code       (kōd)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  

1. A systematically arranged and comprehensive collection of laws.
2. A systematic collection of regulations and rules of procedure or conduct: a traffic code.
3. 1. A system of signals used to represent letters or numbers in transmitting messages.
   2. A system of symbols, letters, or words given certain arbitrary meanings, used for transmitting messages requiring secrecy or brevity.
4. A system of symbols and rules used to represent instructions to a computer; a computer program.

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What about binary?

via http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/binary

bi·na·ry      /ˈbaɪnəri, -nɛri/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[bahy-nuh-ree, -ner-ee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, noun, plural -ries. –adjective

1.	consisting of, indicating, or involving two.

2.

Mathematics. a. of or pertaining to a system of numerical notation to the base 2, in which each place of a number, expressed as 0 or 1, corresponds to a power of 2. The decimal number 58 appears as 111010 in binary notation, since 58 = 1 × 25 + 1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 0 × 22 + 1 × 21 + 0 × 20. b. of or pertaining to the digits or numbers used in binary notation. c. of or pertaining to a binary system. d. (of an operation) assigning a third quantity to two given quantities, as in the addition of two numbers.

3.	Chemistry. noting a compound containing only two elements or groups, as sodium chloride, methyl bromide, or methyl hydroxide.

4.	Metallurgy. (of an alloy) having two principal constituents.

–noun

5.	a whole composed of two.

6.	Astronomy. binary star.

7.	Also called binary number. Mathematics. a number expressed in the binary system of notation.

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To better understand what I am referring to with this posts title, the following is a list of chapters from the table of contents of Code that in one form or another relates to the "The Power of Two",

Preface	iv
Chapter 1 Best Friends	3
Chapter 2 Codes and Combinations	9
Chapter 3 Braille and Binary Codes	15
Chapter 4 Anatomy of a Flashlight	22
Chapter 5 Seeing Around Corners	32
Chapter 6 Telegraphs and Relays	40
Chapter 7 Our Ten Digits	47
Chapter 8 Alternatives to 10	54
Chapter 9 Bit by Bit by Bit	69
Chapter 10 Logic and Switches	86
Chapter 11 Gates (Not Bill)	102
Chapter 12 A Binary Adding Machine	131
Chapter 13 But What About Subtraction?	143
Chapter 14 Feedback and Flip-Flops	155
Chapter 15 Bytes and Hex	180
Chapter 18 From Abaci to Chips	238
Chapter 19 Two Classic Microprocessors	260
Chapter 20 ASCII and a Cast of Characters	286
Chapter 23 Fixed Point, Floating Point	335

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You: "Okay, I'm with you so far... But what's your point?"

Me: "Excellent question! Thanks for asking..."

So the point to all of this is pretty simple: I need a lead-in to my next post, and this is that lead-in.

You: "That's it?"

Me: "Yep."

You: "I don't like you..."

Me: "You're, Welcome :)"

So with that, my friends, I bid you adieu until a bit later today when I pull together and publish the next post in this series which I can promise you will be *MUCH* more satisfying to your tech-geek soul, and at very least will provide proof that I am no where near as crazy as you currently think I am. ;)

In the mean time, I would encourage you to visit your favorite local bookseller, read from a sample chapter (Chapter 9: Bit by Bit by Bit), or visit one of the retailers listed on Microsoft Press home for Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold.

Until then, enjoy your collective dev-days!

** Junk Food Tech Books: Please don't take the term "Junk Food" to mean that I believe they are of no technical nutritional value, and instead the type of tech books that you indulge in, rather than use as your daily tech-reference staple.  Similar "Junk Food" tech titles (at least from my own perspective) include Joel on Software or any other title/essay by Joel Spolsky, and Hackers and Painters or any other title/essay by Paul Graham.