--- product_id: 255319809 title: "How Computers Really Work: A Hands-On Guide to the Inner Workings of the Machine" price: "€ 76.91" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.at/products/255319809-how-computers-really-work-a-hands-on-guide-to-inner store_origin: AT region: Austria --- # How Computers Really Work: A Hands-On Guide to the Inner Workings of the Machine **Price:** € 76.91 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** How Computers Really Work: A Hands-On Guide to the Inner Workings of the Machine - **How much does it cost?** € 76.91 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.at](https://www.desertcart.at/products/255319809-how-computers-really-work-a-hands-on-guide-to-inner) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description An approachable, hands-on guide to understanding how computers work, from low-level circuits to high-level code. How Computers Really Work is a hands-on guide to the computing ecosystem: everything from circuits to memory and clock signals, machine code, programming languages, operating systems, and the internet. But you won't just read about these concepts, you'll test your knowledge with exercises, and practice what you learn with 41 optional hands-on projects. Build digital circuits, craft a guessing game, convert decimal numbers to binary, examine virtual memory usage, run your own web server, and more. Explore concepts like how to: Think like a software engineer as you use data to describe a real world concept Use Ohm's and Kirchhoff's laws to analyze an electrical circuit Think like a computer as you practice binary addition and execute a program in your mind, step-by-step The book's projects will have you translate your learning into action, as you: Learn how to use a multimeter to measure resistance, current, and voltage Build a half adder to see how logical operations in hardware can be combined to perform useful functions Write a program in assembly language, then examine the resulting machine code Learn to use a debugger, disassemble code, and hack a program to change its behavior without changing the source code Use a port scanner to see which internet ports your computer has open Run your own server and get a solid crash course on how the web works And since a picture is worth a thousand bytes, chapters are filled with detailed diagrams and illustrations to help clarify technical complexities. Requirements: The projects require a variety of hardware - electronics projects need a breadboard, power supply, and various circuit components; software projects are performed on a Raspberry Pi. Appendix B contains a complete list. Even if you skip the projects, the book's major concepts are clearly presented in the main text. Review: A clearly written book that covers important concepts without glossing over the details. - I enjoyed this book and learnt a lot from it. Matthew writes clearly, includes real-world examples, gets into the technical details, and provides interesting stories of his time working on software engineering at Microsoft. The equipment to complete the practical exercises will cost about $100. Here is a summary of each chapter: Chapter 1: explains decimal number system (which we use in everyday life) and the binary and hexadecimal number systems used in computing. Chapter 2: encoding: now that you know about binary numbers, how do we represent the alphabets of the world in binary numbers? Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR) are also explained. Chapter 3: fundamentals of electric circuits. Voltage, current, and resistance. How these three relate to each other, described in Ohm's law. Chapter 4: how to build logical operators in the form of electrical circuits. Transistors explained. Integrated circuits explained. Chapter 5: arithmetic of binary numbers. How binary arithmetic can be carried out by electrical circuits built with logical operators. Chapter 6: how a bit can be stored in an electrical circuit called an SR Latch. Sequential logic circuits. How clock signals advance a sequential logic circuit. Chapter 7: the primary hardware components of a computer and how they work together to perform instructions provided by software. Chapter 8: how hardware must receive instructions in the form of machine code. Different examples of machine code and what instructions they convey. Assembly language is a more human-readable form of machine code. Chapter 9: how high-level programming languages (C, Python, etc.) are based on machine code. The advantages of writing in a high-level programming language as opposed to machine code. Various other concepts important in high-level programming. Chapter 10: on operating systems. How an operating system manages the computer's hardware, allowing multiple applications and programs to run at the same time. The major OSs, the types of hardware they typically manage, and their history and common origins. Chapter 11: the internet. A description of the physical components of the internet and the protocols they use to communicate. Chapter 12: how people use the infrastructure provided by the internet to create web pages and web services. The markup languages, programming languages, and data structures that are most frequently used to create web pages and web services. Chapter 13: a brief description of emerging computer technologies: Apps, Bitcoin, cloud computing, virtual reality and augmented reality. Review: CARVE IT IN STONE! - Here is my quick review about this AWESOME book, but first here's a caveat: You have to be interested in learning the material. I mean, that's why you are thinking about purchasing this book, right? Here is what I have to say about this book... "IT DESERVES TO BE CARVED IN STONE OK, OK; IN THIS DAY AND AGE IT CAN BE LASER ENGRAVED ON METAL PLATES." enough said? Buy the book, you'll love it. It's in my Top 10 favorite books of all time. An enormous thank you to the author Mathew, Justice for undertaking the task of writing this very comprehensive book. A huge thank you to his parents, wife and his daughters for the support they provided him. And also a big thank you to the entire team at No Starch Press for supporting the publication of this book for it has literally changed my life! :) ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #113,132 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #12 in Single Board Computers (Books) #21 in Electrical & Electronic Circuits #37 in Microsoft Programming (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 281 Reviews | ## Images ![How Computers Really Work: A Hands-On Guide to the Inner Workings of the Machine - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/715hAV51VnL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A clearly written book that covers important concepts without glossing over the details. *by T***S on April 22, 2024* I enjoyed this book and learnt a lot from it. Matthew writes clearly, includes real-world examples, gets into the technical details, and provides interesting stories of his time working on software engineering at Microsoft. The equipment to complete the practical exercises will cost about $100. Here is a summary of each chapter: Chapter 1: explains decimal number system (which we use in everyday life) and the binary and hexadecimal number systems used in computing. Chapter 2: encoding: now that you know about binary numbers, how do we represent the alphabets of the world in binary numbers? Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR) are also explained. Chapter 3: fundamentals of electric circuits. Voltage, current, and resistance. How these three relate to each other, described in Ohm's law. Chapter 4: how to build logical operators in the form of electrical circuits. Transistors explained. Integrated circuits explained. Chapter 5: arithmetic of binary numbers. How binary arithmetic can be carried out by electrical circuits built with logical operators. Chapter 6: how a bit can be stored in an electrical circuit called an SR Latch. Sequential logic circuits. How clock signals advance a sequential logic circuit. Chapter 7: the primary hardware components of a computer and how they work together to perform instructions provided by software. Chapter 8: how hardware must receive instructions in the form of machine code. Different examples of machine code and what instructions they convey. Assembly language is a more human-readable form of machine code. Chapter 9: how high-level programming languages (C, Python, etc.) are based on machine code. The advantages of writing in a high-level programming language as opposed to machine code. Various other concepts important in high-level programming. Chapter 10: on operating systems. How an operating system manages the computer's hardware, allowing multiple applications and programs to run at the same time. The major OSs, the types of hardware they typically manage, and their history and common origins. Chapter 11: the internet. A description of the physical components of the internet and the protocols they use to communicate. Chapter 12: how people use the infrastructure provided by the internet to create web pages and web services. The markup languages, programming languages, and data structures that are most frequently used to create web pages and web services. Chapter 13: a brief description of emerging computer technologies: Apps, Bitcoin, cloud computing, virtual reality and augmented reality. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ CARVE IT IN STONE! *by J***. on July 31, 2022* Here is my quick review about this AWESOME book, but first here's a caveat: You have to be interested in learning the material. I mean, that's why you are thinking about purchasing this book, right? Here is what I have to say about this book... "IT DESERVES TO BE CARVED IN STONE OK, OK; IN THIS DAY AND AGE IT CAN BE LASER ENGRAVED ON METAL PLATES." enough said? Buy the book, you'll love it. It's in my Top 10 favorite books of all time. An enormous thank you to the author Mathew, Justice for undertaking the task of writing this very comprehensive book. A huge thank you to his parents, wife and his daughters for the support they provided him. And also a big thank you to the entire team at No Starch Press for supporting the publication of this book for it has literally changed my life! :) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Really explains how computer works *by A***. on April 12, 2025* This is the book I wish I read before I took my Computer Architecture classes back in college. ## Frequently Bought Together - How Computers Really Work: A Hands-On Guide to the Inner Workings of the Machine - How Cybersecurity Really Works: A Hands-On Guide for Total Beginners - How the Internet Really Works: An Illustrated Guide to Protocols, Privacy, Censorship, and Governance --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.at/products/255319809-how-computers-really-work-a-hands-on-guide-to-inner](https://www.desertcart.at/products/255319809-how-computers-really-work-a-hands-on-guide-to-inner) --- *Product available on Desertcart Austria* *Store origin: AT* *Last updated: 2026-06-05*