I’m very interested in learning how computers work, but can’t seem to find the exact information I’m looking for. My understanding is, and **please** correct me if I’m wrong, is that if you press the letter “A” on a keyboard, a circuit underneath will close which sends electricity to wires, and based on the combination of voltages on the wires, the computer outputs an “A”. But how does the computer know what do to with voltages? What do the voltages represent? At what point does any of this information get converted into binary, and once it does, what happens?
I don’t expect someone to be able to explain this like I’m five. For me, it’s a difficult, but really interesting subject. Any clarification and dumbing down is appreciated! I’m really hoping to get a better grasp on my understanding of all this.
Edit: I should’ve made the title “How do computers work?” Still wondering how computers know what to do with 1’s and 0’s, though.
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If I flash a flashlight at you in the pattern of Morse code, you can understand what I’m saying. The flashlight itself isn’t special, it’s the set of rules you and I have to understand the flashes.
Use that analogy for nearly anything a computer does. It just needs a set of rules given to it as to what these patterns mean. Another example is color-by-number coloring books. They have a table that instructs you to color red in some places, blue in others, all simply based on what number is there.
Usually these instructions are in the form of a driver software package. Is there a number in memory slot 1 that says 256-0-0? Then make the monitor pixel that corresponds to that memory red.
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