Next time, on ...

Hey, everybody. I haven't made any updates in the last week or so. I recently heard from a couple of smart people who have read through my posts so far that I'm not doing a good enough job of explaining everything plainly. Because of this, I'm going to do a "reboot" of this series of articles on the basics of computer science.

In writing this series I was attempting to do the opposite of what is usually done in computer science education. Usually, you start with the basics of creating a working computer program in a computer language like C or Java, and then eventually reveal the details under the hood that allow that program to be run on the computer.

I was trying to do the opposite of this, and talk about how things like binary math and computer memory work without giving them any context or enough explanation. In my reboot, I'm still going to do this, but I'm going to interleave a few different types of topics as I go. I'm also going to re-write on some of the topics I've already covered, trying to give them a better treatment than I did the first time. I'm not going to erase anything that has come before, because I think I have written some good things there, that maybe you should revisit as a reader after I've given more background.

Like I already mentioned, I'm going to discuss topics under large umbrella topics. At the beginning of each post title I will say in capital letters which of these umbrellas that post falls under. For example, my first post "Of bits" would be named "MATH: Of bits" under this new naming convention.

So that's the plan moving forward. I think the first thing I will talk about with this new plan will be titled "CS THEORY: Memorable numbers." I'm going to forget talking about binary numbers until later, and just focus on the basic concept of what computer memory is and what it does.

I've also received a request to talk about more electricity-oriented topics (digital circuits and whatnot). I am not very well qualified to explain the circuits that make computers happen, but I will take a stab at it after I have read up on the subject a little more. Until next time.