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Dive into the fascinating world of computing with our podcast episode titled "How do computers actually work? From electrons to hardware to the web." We unravel the mystery starting from the fundamental building blocks of technology—electrons, and how they power datacenters, to the intricacies of hardware and firmware. Journey through the critical layers of computing, including the OS kernel, CPU operations, memory management, and storage solutions. Security gets its due with an exploration of TPM, setting the stage for a deep dive into software architecture. We break down frontend technologies and backend infrastructure, covering everything from HTML and CSS to cloud computing and network protocols. The episode culminates with a discussion on CI/CD pipelines and the decision-making process in tech development. It's a comprehensive guide for anyone curious about the inner workings of computers and the internet.
Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:17 - Sponsor
02:47 - Everything is a Stack, with Layers on Layers
04:55 - The Lowest Layer: Subatomic Particles
09:21 - Types of Current: AC and DC (Alternating and Direct Current)
12:36 - How Datacenters use Electricity
15:45 - The Next Layer: Hardware
19:07 - The Next Layer: Firmware
21:46 - The Next Layer: The OS Kernel
24:21 - Diving Deeper: Motherboard
27:59 - The OS Kernel
29:43 - CPU, Threading, Multithreading, Hyperthreading, Clock Speed
36:53 - Memory/RAM, Volatile Memory, Virtual Memory
39:43 - Storage, Hard Drives, Solid State Drives
41:33 - TPM (Trusted Platform Module)
42:59 - The Next Layer: Software
43:46 - Software Architecture
47:08 - Frontend Deep Dive: HTML, HTMX, CSS, TailwindCSS, JavaScript, Accessibility, and Network
59:53 - What happens when data fetching: TCP/IP stack, HTTP and SSL encryption, how data flows over the network and internet
01:12:05 - Receiving a Network Request on the Backend, DNS, Firewalls, Load Balancing, SSL Termination, Reverse Proxies
01:20:38 - Backend Architecture: Caches, Queues, Distributed Systems, Control Plane vs. Data Plane
01:25:44 - Cloud Computing: Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), Subnets, NATs
01:28:30 - Adjusting Expectations for Frontend and Backend
01:29:34 - CI/CD Pipelines, Webhooks, git-based deploys
01:30:21 - Build it or buy it?
01:31:18 - Conclusion
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