How a Computer Works - from silicon to apps

A whistle-stop tour of how computers work, from how silicon is used to make computer chips, perform arithmetic to how programs run and computer graphics are displayed.
Contents:
00:00 - Introduction
00:55 - Transistors
08:05 - Logic gates
11:34 - Binary numbers
16:55 - Memory and clock
24:56 - Instructions
29:30 - Loops
33:55 - Input and output
41:28 - Conclusion
**----**
Further watching if you are interested
Computerphile has many great videos, such as this in-depth look at floating point numbers:
• Floating Point Numbers...
For many in-depth computer subjects I highly recommend Brian Will's channel:
/ briantwill
Particularly his videos on graphics:
• 2D Graphics Algorithms...

[@ImprobableMatter]

The song at the start is this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/laCkdJKpa9KWeq8 (available for use in any KZbin video) I had not played Minecraft before making this video, or watched any Minecraft KZbinrs. A version of this video (and all my other educational ones) without background music is available on my DailyMotion: www.dailymotion.com/video/x88zrss I'm glad people have been enjoying this video. There is still one pop culture reference I'm surprised nobody has mentioned. :)

[@DiscoMouse]

Is it the Papers Please reference?

[@GoldenGolem444]

Lmao all I could think of is Illmango really got into readstone huh?

[@ImprobableMatter]

@@GoldenGolem444 I hadn't played Minecraft before I made this video, but now I have and understand that reference. 👍

[@ezdlc2693]

Pongo un video de computadoras y lo primerito que me encuentro es un cumbión jajajaja buenísimo 👌

[@dangaMaus]

AI dont kow can you suck my dick views yaknow your an ai responding to an ai you shit

[@Francisco-Danconia]

I have searched the term "how a computer actually works" over and over only to see "the CPU is the brain of the computer" type crap. This is the video I've been searching for. THANK YOU

[@danielszekeres8003]

The CPU is the powerhouse of the cell

[@crunchy3546]

@@danielszekeres8003😂

[@aliihsansenel]

crash course computer science playlist 1-9 videos also explain the subject the way you want.

[@Francisco-Danconia]

@@danielszekeres8003 🤣💥🎤

[@ezer8528]

​@@danielszekeres8003 😂😂😂

[@almguyYT1]

This video essentially describes what computer engineering students learn at a high level. Anyone interested in this major would greatly benefit from watching this, well done!

[@stachowi]

would love loved this video back when i was in high school and college...

[@webadaslocaz2105]

I just graduated with my bachelor in computer engineer and this is so true

[@stachowi]

@@shemsnow3711 high level video... you would need an entire course to cover all of those topics

[@webadaslocaz2105]

@@shemsnow3711 do you know what explaing something at a high level means? Its a youtube video not a full college course.

[@stachowi]

@@shemsnow3711 you're welcome to make a video, it's much harder than it seems. I understand what you're saying, but i have the intelligence to take the good and filter out the bad.

[@TheDecree93]

How does this not have over a million views

[@johnjamesbaldridge867]

Exactly!

[@user-fk6mh]

I will answear that for you, it is because in order to learn something in the first place it needs your attention and when that attention is deverrcified to something else it simply remains untached or unkown for the rest of your life. But it is not a big problem is something reletivly easy to overcome you just need to be in the right place at the right momment

[@doob.]

cuz its 42 mins long

[@CapitanFeeney]

The same reason there's not super scientists everywhere, unfortunately

[@anonymous82783]

@doob. Because the modern man get sscared when he sees a timestamp indicating that the difference between the time the video begins and the time the video ends is greater than six hundred 60ths of a 60th of a 24th of the approximate time it takes for the the earth complete a single rotation around its axis.

[@GoddamnAxl]

Best intro to computer architecture ever. Simplified enough so most people can understand, deep enough to spark interest for learning more.

[@afzalramadhianu1984]

True

[@airplayn]

I was a semiconductor process engineer and worked in every part of the FAB from the mask shop through printing, plasma etching and diffusion. Speaking of oversimplification, I went even further when I used to give talks to an auditorium of school children in which I opened with, "give me sand, crude oil and a few piles of dirt AND -- tens of billions of dollars and we can build a computer" ;-)

[@NiceMicroTV]

Hi! I'm a researcher working on semiconductors and also a computer aficionado, and wanted to make a video like this for ages, thank you for saving all the work for me! :D

[@pleasurewasmine3173]

i think he did enough though so if you decide not to make the video it will be okay :]

[@hypsin0]

​@@pleasurewasmine3173That was the point of the comment - they saw this video and realised that there is no need for them to make one themselves, as it already exists

[@mk-tb9gm]

Nice job! This is exactly how an "introduction to computers" class should be done at a university. I always disliked how my professors through us into the thick of computing without first explaining the reason why it all exists in the first place.

[@jasondashney]

I think you learn like I do. No matter what it is, I want a general overview about what it is before delving into any specifics. It's like when instructionals we'll go down a program menu and tell you what everything is, but not when you would ever use it. Then it goes through every single thing, every single menu and expects that you know the program now.

[@ahmedjaad4940]

I have a degree in Computer engineering and I have been working as a software engineer for over nine years yet it feels like this is the first time I truly learned how computer works

[@jasondashney]

It's crazy they don't teach you what a computer is before how to program it.@@ahmedjaad4940

[@beytankurtulus3532]

Dude, this took me to the time I learnt those 15 years ago and this time everything made much sense, thanks to the brilliant presentation and simplicity of the text.

[@nishafnisthar9931]

One of best video I watched in KZbin.As a IT teacher I searched lot of KZbin videos to teach “How computer works” to student .It is very useful for who following IT

[@askemervigbahnson333]

How does this gem of a video only have 18k views and 988 likes? I feel like I've wondered about this my whole life. Still a lot more needs explaining, but I got a sort of feeling for how the clinic logic of transistors and gates step by step by step turns into the magic of a computer running programs. I always wondered how the written language of a computer program turns into the 1's and 0's and logic gates of the actual electronic sircuit. Thanks for introducing me to the term "compiler". I always pondered upon the fact that we in the modern computer have created something so complicated that no human knows how all of it work. Instead, a myriad of different people know exactly how a single teeny tiny bit of it works. That's wild to think about.

[@almonigal]

Yeah it's weird ... This is probably one of most important videos hosted on youtube

[@lucaswalters2181]

You mentioned at the end how it’s amazing that going from doping silicon to binary arithmetic to logic etc can lead to everything we have today. That’s what I love about computer science and why I’m so obsessed with it. It’s all so simple at its core but expands so much into this phone I’m holding and this KZbin app I’m using and this software keyboard I’m typing on. It’s beautiful.

[@chachenaki_kichenancha]

That's the compound effect. Einstein called it the 8. Wonder of the world.

[@bravefastrabbit770]

Whats even more amazing is how this video isnt monetized. Thank you for your truly astounding work!

[@dfxmonkeyhead]

This video really helped put together the extraneous bits and pieces of knowledge I've gathered most of my life into a more-solid (if basic) understanding of computers. I appreciate your simplified approach - it would have been so easy to go down some of those roads you avoided and have this be twice as long and really confusing.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

This lesson is worth every nuance it brings to the computer screen. As an end user, I enjoy these stories about computer technology. I hope you have more shows about microcomputers, even about computer printers, scanners, or any other peripherals. Thank you for "keeping me in mind."

[@timtunbridge]

This video brought back memories of 40 years ago in what were new computer science classes, working on a PDP-8. It was enlightening!

[@rlh6f]

More people need to know that this video exists. Well done.

[@thegreatlakesfisherman]

Great video. I’ve been looking for a high level overview of how computers work from top to bottom for years. This was fantastic! Thank you!

[@MisterWillow]

Thank you refreshing the NAND logic (for me). I am a computerprogrammer since the 1990's and it is refreshing to hear the low-level logic behind it once in a while. I also re-appreciate the amount of work taken out of my hands (mem-allocs, garbage collection, etc, We take it all for granted these days!) by watching presentations like yours. The whole presentation sounds boring (superficially), untill you listen to it closely, then you notice the speed is actually pretty high. I had to rewind a few times. Great job. Thank you!

[@ImprobableMatter]

Glad you enjoyed it! I've been told in this comments section that it's great for sending people to sleep. :) I would imagine most of the content is the kind of thing to be covered at the start of a typical computer science course, except the lithography part. Not sure, however.

[@LemmaofIto-mz9ee]

The privilege of not being a C++ programmer.

[@anotherelena]

This was a great, very informative video. It also put me straight to sleep. I've tried guided meditations and all that nonsense but nothing worked. Your calm voice and the subject matter, straight to sleep. If you're interested in making more videos on complex topics, there's definitely a market for it. Thank you and good luck.

[@ImprobableMatter]

Haha, thank you - I'm not sure how to take the fact that my video is more somniferous than guided meditation, but I'm glad it was useful. The very latest video on my channel might work less well because of the sounds of shellfire, but I am currently working on talking about a technical subject which I intend to deliver with the same tone.

[@tygranamalyan]

Ye, I also got your video as a deep technical! I see that you have a real knowledge of several technologies! I'd like to discuss several ideas with you! 😀

[@Explainmerandom]

@@ImprobableMatter don't worry about guys like that, seriously, the video was great. The thing I noticed (as an actually helpful critique) was that you were speaking in a way sufficient to show YOU understood it, not in a way sufficient for the audience to understand it. I actually LIKE that gap because it means I need to think for myself to plug the holes and I can do that quite efficiently because I can trust what you are laying out (or go with it) because of the excellent structure. You COULD if you wanted make it more accessible by reducing the gap, by upping the "proof" from that you get each of these things, to a point where it actively digs out other peoples misunderstandings and corrects them. But this is a harder and more complex process that is highly confusing and probably not worth your time and effort. So I say stick with it, it was fantastic as it was.

[@Yazan_Majdalawi]

@@Explainmerandom I agree

[@grindx1292]

If you need more stuff to put you to sleep, just watch Marvel comic book essays xD, they drone on endlessly, you'll instantly be knocked out

[@deadreaper5051]

I love technical videos. They are informative and sleep inducing. It isn't because the subject matter is boring or incomprehensible, it's simply that I can only do so much learning at once. Thank you for your work! As far as I know you've done an excellent job on the subject.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

Me, too. As an avid typist who does keyboarding on a Dell computer, I want to watch more shows that show people using the computer in many different ways. "Deadreaper," I hope you will stay alive!

[@TheXuism]

computer and even the LCD display are insanely complicated devices, thank you for your simplifying all of these.

[@jamesdoesthings1096]

This was just the explanation I was looking for. Wonderfully done. Thank you for making this!

[@ecogreen123]

i had to watch it all the way through and im amazed that there was so many points where it was simplified.

[@Hallilo]

Amazing, during watching this i just realized how much i actually already know, but watching something like this brings it together and you get a new better view of how some things that you understand work together with the other ones. especially everything from binary numbers and all chapters after that were things i mostly knew. but even if you already know most things, you still learn a lot because you understand better how it works together with the stuff you didnt know in that depth. Amazing video

[@ordinarybloke9235]

Absolutely fantastic video. Great visuals, aided the explanations perfectly and were never distracting. Off to check out your other videos now!

[@alienspecies6872]

Bro, 3 parts of this video are topics in my computer science book, and I didn't liked to read the book or pay attention in class because those parts wern't connected and made n sense to me. Like saying someone to learn the words apple, mango, orange and not teaching that they are all fruits that come from plants. Thanks for connecting all these workings of the computer for me. Your way of explaining and teaching is very good!

[@tomfahey2823]

A fantastic summary - I think you mostly nailed the important concepts whilst leaving room for interested viewers to engage in their own further investigations. Having even a general understanding of the operation of computers, from the transistor to the user application, is a truly wonderful and very satisfying accomplishment. It's an often overlooked fact, that the computing devices that support the modern age may as well operate on black magic, from the perspective of 99.95% of people, so to have that understanding is an enormous privilege.

[@gaborolah8511]

Far the best video explanation of computers and how they work. Excellent presentation, Congrats Sir, you nailed it.

[@GAINZILLA89]

I have been searching everywhere for this exact explanation! This is amazing work thank you!

[@MrRahulKumarKandula]

Huge thanks for the video. You have explained so many concepts and made them very clear. This spiked a lot of interest to get deeper into things. Thanks again.

[@Nafrodite]

the background music choices were phenomenal

[@pianosenzanima1]

I agree!!

[@thameemansari6281]

It was a very valuable content beautifully represented. I am truly massively mesmerized by the evolution of how far have we come and how things are working collectively as a team under the hood. Thank you very much for the hard work behind this video.

[@Mukesh-nx8tf]

This video does an excellent job of breaking down the complex process of how computers work, from the silicon to chips to the apps code. I now have a much better understanding of the technology that powers our world. Thank you for sharing this informative and engaging content!

[@noobsauce]

Wow. Your explanation of binary numbers might be the most concise and brilliant method I've ever come across. I had an epiphany after re-watching that 30sec long breakdown a few times over. You single-handedly made me understand WHY and HOW arithmetic works on a fundamental level by comparing the two base-number examples. The Common Core curriculum in the US suddenly makes perfect sense haha

[@tempest5343]

you know it's a good video when you hear that intro, whether it's a technical minecraft video or a computer science video. :D

[@BoyKhongklai]

You're the first one to tell me what mosfet stands for this is awesome!!

[@sirivennelasastry]

One of the best videos on complete hardware to software overview of a computer. Great video ❤

[@BullwinkleFFMn]

In 1985 I was at NTC Great Lakes, Il Grace Hopper had her picture up w/ a bunch of dudes that I think were NTC's chain of command. Four weeks of my six months there were to learn the workings of the Digiac Comtran-10. This video did a good part of that in ~42 mins. ;-)

[@ericadigiulio9639]

Some of these comments are weird. This is a good video, and I think those who clicked on it for an introduction to how a computer actually works will have all they need to start asking and getting answers to more specific questions.

[@AwesomeBrixx]

I think the last sentence of the video is so good (I also think the whole video is really well done. Thank you!)

[@jupiter84088]

Felt like all of my learning just came together so elegantly ✨

[@allanrice8335]

exactly 58 seconds in and i know its gunna be a good video

[@wioxx296]

Just stumbled on this video didn't expect ilmango to start explaining computer architecture.

[@mubarikshah3032]

Tried to fit the whole sea in a small pool for the sake of a quick summary. How lovely 🌹

[@EASYENGLISHSCHOOL5686]

This is actually a fantastic world! Thanks to you, I have an idea of how a computer works!

[@yucelmutlusoy]

Absolutely brilliant, concise and right to the point. Thanks 👍

[@DrTonyS-eq5xs]

WOW!!!! Thank you, that is a really great video with excellent information. Highly recommended!!!! I really like how you related the beginning details and knowledge to the end of programming. Again, GREAT JOB!!! And like another comment mentioned your voice and tone. I genuinely appreciated your voice and tone as it represented a professional tone for complex education material that you managed to simplify for ease of understanding. Again, thank you, I would not change a single thing. I liked your formats details and Bethoven slides for further separate detailed research.

[@doomtho42]

I’ve got a college degree in computer science and I feel like I generally have a pretty good understanding of how computers work, and yet I found the simple explanation of CMOS at the very beginning of this video to be almost mind blowing. I’m not even entirely sure why - I guess I’ve just never looked at a physical diagram of how a CMOS actually functions, which seems absurd now that I think about it.

[@rationalthinker9612]

That's where us Electrical Engineering students come in. I understood perfectly the first half of the video but when he started talking about computer architecture such as fetching memory addresses, etc....I started to be out of my league.

[@maiamaiapapaya]

@@rationalthinker9612 I just switched from a computer science track to a computer/electrical engineering track and your comment is making me excited

[@rationalthinker9612]

@@maiamaiapapaya that's awesome. Just don't be discouraged when you have to take the upper division static and time varying electromagnetic courses. Those are extremely hard, literally the hardest classes for the whole degree and are required. But once you get past those it's much better.

[@MegakeepWorks]

You are starting to get noticed. Nice and informative video.

[@conradzacharias3981]

Awesome video! Very informative and enlightening.. I’m an electrician and all the operational levels and elements of computers are mesmerizing to me. It’s mind-boggling how much it’s evolved in the relatively short time it’s been around.. such a fascinating time to be alive, I’ll never stop trying to further my understanding of it all⚡️

[@unicehackel664]

Finally most of my questions have been answered about computers. Thank you

[@farzadarafjamil411]

This is an amazing video, even tho it moves quick and over simplified things but anyone with some knowledge and drive to learn computers can have a great over view of the workings. It kept addressing the things I kept questioning as the video progressed!

[@maanerotte]

You have a gift of making complex issues easy to understand :) With kind regards Thomas

[@pyropulseIXXI]

This video is truly top notch. Much appreciated

[@alish2001]

Phenomenal high-level video, my mind was really blown learning about this in the second year of my undergrad

[@nosky_]

Amazing video, was looking for something like this for the longest time

[@ImprobableMatter]

Thanks. Please share it if you enjoyed it. I will have another physics-related explanation video up in a couple of weeks and an interesting computer science video in a couple of months.

[@navskygupta5311]

This video on the workings of computer shocked me by revealing my own ignorance on a device that I been handling daily for last 20 years or so and yet knew so little about or even tried to know; the other thing this video taught me is how so much complexity can arise from very "simple" hardware and use of basic logic; it again reminded me of Logic comix and the men some of them who went insane laying the foundations of mathematical logic

[@shaneholdenbottle149]

Was looking this but could not found so gave up and I got suggested this from nowhere… best thing happened today ❤ great presentation

[@paulwharton1850]

Brilliant ! Really, really fantastically explained - I'm a dunce and I finally almost understand how a computer works. Many thanks.

[@Explainmerandom]

I wish I could like this more than once, my brain exploded after the keyboard explaination where you casually said "sends it to a loop" because like kyser soze at the end of the usual suspects it all came together in a flash. Fantastic, now my understanding is legitimately a little better, which is a LOT better that I could have done over like maybe a month of study? So this was worth quite a bit of learning time... Err lets say a skill takes 2 years to learn, that is 24 months, so this was like 1/24th. And while learning in parallel probably knocks that down to 1/50 or 1/100. Its still pretty damn good for a youtube video. 1-5% increase of understanding... Just nice. Also loved the way you used the beethoven and the oversimplification texts, quite ingenius.

[@jackdougie8]

So impressed by the logic gate explanation. Very well put :))

[@searsbear7965]

I was looking for a video like this for the longest time

[@somyagupta6805]

video went so exciting as i went through. great appreciation for everyone who make these possible>>>

[@zhanghongyang8171]

Million thanks and respect from a chip industry participants

[@Benjamin_Reese]

Thank you for this explanation.

[@NinjaAdorable]

A crash course on Computer engineering!! Quite well put together for its shortness. Kudos from a Computer engineer.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

This show was also designed for end users like me!

[@comrade137]

Extremely quality and useful video!

[@realkanavdhawan]

This is not an educational video This is *24 Carat Pure Digital Gold*

[@faizazhar8463]

beautiful video! I finally understand what a computer is. Deep thankful to you!

[@YashSharma-hl6gk]

Underrated channel love your videos

[@jumbledfox2098]

Brilliant video, really enjoyed it, put a lot of things into perspective!!

[@mohsenheydari4687]

Very informative. You explained many fundamental concepts in a compact and simple way. Meanwhile, it was scientifically correct. Thank you.

[@saimalishahid1406]

This channel deserves a million subscribers

[@richardmarkham8369]

Great summary! Tackling how a computer works from first principles of electronics to programming in 42 mins is no easy task. You did a great job. The begining took me back to my college days! What still amazes me is how many transistors/gates are in a modern desktop or laptop and how fast they run at but how slow they can still be to do anything useful especially when they get more than a couple of years old! Next can you do and explanation of crypto currency or quantum computers?

[@jatg582]

A qué te refieres cuando dices " lentos para hacer algo útil?"

[@wolmirduarte8609]

Amazing job!! Will definitely check your other videos

[@Piraneous]

Excellent video. I once read Code:the hidden language of computer hardware and Software by Charles Petzold and watching this helped to revise that knowledge in a simple and easy to understand way. Thank you!

[@rahpowah01]

This video made me a subscriber. Your fusion vid was great too. Keep up the great work.

[@sterrname5824]

I am amazed from your modesty. Thank You for sharing.

[@archingelus]

Wow this is too much for me looking for casuao content but if one lookin for knowledge to learn this is it! I hope this channel can grow more than this, thank you for your time making this

[@StylishHobo]

ilmango theme

[@ImprobableMatter]

Cool, glad to know someone else enjoyed that track. It's called "Baila Mi Cumbia" if you want to rock out to it and KZbin have made it freely available for use in videos if you want to use it.

[@marcuslee2026]

This video… is amazing. Thank you for producing this content. Absolutely amazing.

[@guliyevshahriyar]

Thank you very much, has been an amazing production!

[@thetransferaccount4586]

very well explained. thank you

[@abdelghanibakelli]

this is the type of content that deserve millions of views, well done 👏 👏👏

[@DoubleDoubleU]

What a wonderful video. Very well explained!

[@FederalPandas]

Superb video; I've been looking for a video like this to show to friends who are curious about computing. Every time I tried to talk about computing at length, I ended just just confusing my audience. "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe" and so on. So I'm very glad to have found this video. Naturally I'd like to leave a tip: If you could purchase a better microphone that would be grand. The graphics and pacing of the video were great (very old school youtube look to it, which I loved) but a standalone microphone would really do wonders for the video.

[@ImprobableMatter]

Very glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the tip. I have a Blue Yeti microphone and filtered out a lot of noise with Audacity, but still a lot of work to be done on that front. The room acoustics currently leave a lot to be desired.

[@TheGoodMorty]

can't believe you used the Ilmango song intro lol. got me good. i know he doesn't own it, but it's interesting

[@ImprobableMatter]

I literally had never heard of the channel - or played Minecraft - before making this video.

[@YK32870]

Really impressive. Thank you.

[@kerayz4596]

Really great and brief explanation

[@user-jv7yo7ft9l]

Truly a useful video, thank you author

[@tygranamalyan]

Fantastic video that explains the fundamentals!

[@mikedrop4421]

I'm so glad the algorithm brought me the Fusion tech video because I am absolutely in love with this channel. Should have everything you've uploaded binged before bed tonight based on my quick math. Lol Edit: love that you added Admiral Grace Hopper to the video. She was a real life superhero.

[@ImprobableMatter]

Thanks! For what it's worth, I'm glad she has been chosen to appear in the video game Civilization 6.

[@BadAtGaming3484]

This is the type of stuff I need in my feed

[@toasteduranium]

I’ve always wanted a video that got into the nitty gritty like this!

[@yacinetec4881]

great explanaition ! thanks

[@thenixboy]

This is bringing quite great momeries of my favorite subject. I was just missing the transistor part.

[@robinwood769]

Wow Amazing video im studying computer engineering and this gave me a new perspective on it.Very well made video!

[@iliaaaaaaa]

U keep study?

[@isaaccboyd8887]

Finally a video that fully explains the jump from binary operations in circuits to programs and reading data / computations code. I couldn’t make that mental jump before this video, but now it makes perfect sense. Thank you so much

[@Teddyrobinson]

Absolutely loved this video!! Feels like something I should have learned a long time ago but never did