Skip to content
Codextroop TechnologiesCodexLab

Learning paths / Inside the Machine

How a Computer Thinks

Start with a switch. Finish with a working processor.

Six topics that take you from a single on-or-off bit to a machine running a program on its own, plus what is inside your device and why software updates ship after you buy hardware.

Class 6 to 86 topicsbeginnerabout 2h 24m
0 of 6 topics complete0%
Start with Bits & Binary Numbers

What you will be able to do

  • Convert between binary and decimal in both directions, and explain overflow
  • Complete the truth table for any common logic gate
  • Build addition out of an XOR and an AND, and trace a carry across four columns
  • Follow a program through the fetch-decode-execute cycle instruction by instruction
  • Explain why a phone has eight cores instead of one very fast one

Topic sequence

Follow it in order. Each topic assumes the one before it.

01Bits & Binary NumbersbeginnerClass 6 to 8animated labFlip a light switch and you already know how computers count. See why machines use 0 and 1, where 255 keeps showing up, and what happens when a game score runs out of room.02Parts Inside a DevicebeginnerClass 6 to 8A phone or laptop is not one magic chip. Screen, battery, storage and processor each do a job. Bits live and move between those parts.03Logic GatesbeginnerClass 6 to 8animated labThe three tiny decisions a computer can make, and the reason a processor with billions of parts contains nothing more complicated than these.04Building an AdderbeginnerClass 6 to 8animated labNobody taught the computer to add. Two gates per column, a carry travelling left, and arithmetic falls out of the wiring.05How the CPU Runs a ProgrambeginnerClass 6 to 8animated labFetch, decode, execute, repeat. One loop, a few billion times a second, and why your phone gets warm instead of getting faster.06Software UpdatesbeginnerClass 6 to 8Apps and operating systems change after they ship. Updates fix mistakes, close security holes and sometimes add features you asked for.

How this path closes

01

Project

Apply the whole sequence to one build.

02

Assessment

Quizzes across every topic in the path.

03

Requirements met

Every topic complete and an average of at least 70% across the quizzes.

04

How Computers Work: Foundations

Your CodexLab Path Certificate, issued the moment you qualify.

Finishing this path earns the How Computers Work: Foundations certificate, awarded by CodexLab. See the requirements and your progress.