Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software is a book by Charles Petzold, published in 2009. This Waffle podcast explores the book across 10 episodes.

In Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, Charles Petzold reveals how computers arise from simple ways of representing information and controlling electricity. Beginning with friends signaling by flashlight, Morse code, and Braille, the series follows his progression through binary numbers, Boolean logic, arithmetic circuits, memory, and stored programs. It then connects those foundations to microprocessors, character encodings, operating systems, numerical precision, programming languages, graphics, sound, and networked communication. Listeners will understand how hardware and software cooperate, why representations and compatibility matter, and how these layers of technology serve the human impulse to communicate.

These episodes are AI-generated adaptations grounded in the book. Listen to the first episode here and continue the series in the Waffle app.