From Physics to Python
Where I detail for myself, the level of abstractions needed to go from electromagnetism to high level coding.
From Physics to High-Level Coding: A Detailed Guide
1. Electromagnetism and Basic Analog Circuits
Understanding Electromagnetism
Fundamental Principles: Coulomb's law, magnetic fields, electromagnetic induction.
Applications in Circuits: Capacitors, inductors, and their behaviors in AC and DC circuits.
Basic Analog Circuit Components
Resistance, Capacitance, and Inductance: Resistor-capacitor (RC) and resistor-inductor (RL) circuits.
Ohm's Law and Kirchhoff's Laws: Foundation for analyzing circuits.
2. Transitioning from Physics to Analog Circuits
From Principles to Components: Use laws of electromagnetism to understand how components react to voltage and current in a circuit.
Analog Circuit Simulation: Tools and methods for visualizing circuit behavior.
3. Digital Circuits Basics
Introduction to Digital Circuits
Binary Systems: Understanding binary numbers and their representation.
Logic Gates: AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR; building blocks of digital circuits.
Digital Circuit Components
Transistors as Switches: Role in creating logic gates.
Combinational vs. Sequential Logic: Differences and examples (multiplexers, flip-flops).
4. Transitioning from Analog to Digital Circuits
Quantization: Converting analog signals (continuous) to digital (discrete).
Threshold Levels: How specific voltage levels represent binary states (0s and 1s).
5. Integrated Circuits (ICs)
Overview of Integrated Circuits
Definition and Purpose: Combining multiple components on a single chip.
Types of ICs: Analog ICs, digital ICs, and mixed-signal ICs.
Applications of ICs
Functionality in Electronics: Microcontrollers, operational amplifiers, and their significance in circuit design.
6. Transitioning to Integrated Circuits
From Discrete to Integrated: Benefits of compact design, reduced noise, and improved performance.
Miniaturization: Influence on modern electronics and computing.
7. Microprocessors
Basics of Microprocessors
Architecture: Central processing unit (CPU) components (ALU, control unit, registers).
Instruction Sets: Understanding how processors execute tasks.
Microprocessor Functionality
Data Flow: How data is processed and transferred within the circuit.
Clock Speed and Performance: Factors affecting operation and computation speeds.
8. Transitioning to Microprocessors
Integration of Logic: How complex functions of multiple ICs are managed within a single microprocessor.
Layering of Abstraction: How code and hardware communicate through defined instruction sets.
9. Embedded Systems
Understanding Embedded Systems
Definition: Specialized computing systems that perform dedicated functions.
Components of Embedded Systems: Sensors, actuators, and real-time operating systems (RTOS).
Applications
Real-World Use Cases: Automotive systems, home automation, medical devices.
10. Transitioning to Embedded Systems
Linking Hardware and Software: How microprocessors execute firmware specific to a function.
Resource Constraints: Differences in design and programming compared to general-purpose computing.
11. Computer Architecture Design
Fundamentals of Computer Architecture
Von Neumann vs. Harvard Architecture: Differences in data and instruction handling.
Memory Hierarchy: Understanding cache, RAM, and storage.
Performance Factors
Parallelism and Pipelining: Enhancing speed through architecture design.
12. Transitioning to High-Level Architectures
Abstraction Layers: Moving from low-level architecture specifics to architecture design that informs OS and application interactions.
Trade-offs in Design: Balancing performance, cost, and complexity.
13. Assemblers and Low-Level Languages
Role of Assemblers
Assembly Language: Closer to machine code; representing instructions in a human-readable format.
Translation: How assembly language gets compiled into machine code.
C Language as a High-Level Assembly
History and Purpose: Development of C to simplify programming tasks.
Features of C: Data types, control structures, and functions.
14. Transitioning from Assembly to C
High-Level Abstraction: Creating portable code and handling memory through higher-level constructs.
Power of Abstraction: The way C built on assembly to improve efficiencies and developer accessibility.
15. High-Level Programming Languages: Java and Python
Introductions to Java and Python
Java: