eli5: At the most basic level, how is a computer programmed to know how long a unit of time is?
In: 2404
its not programmed per se to understand units of time….thats part of what you have to supply to it. all computers have a timebase, typically a crystal oscillator installed. they basically operate on “clock cycles” you can provide it with the data on how fast the clock is operating at and then it will know about the passage of time, by counting clock pulses and translating that with the info provided on how long a clock pulse is
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