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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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