Computer Architecture and its Evolution

How do computers work? Computer Architecture is the field of designing and building effective computer systems with a fascinating evolutionary history of awesome discoveries and dead ends with lessons learned. Understanding Computer Architecture is not only fun and interesting but will also enable you to be a better computer programmer or IT professional.

Come listen to Doug present on computer architecture and learn how computers are built with examples from the past and present as well as Doug's own hobby examples. Follow a fascinating timeline of computer development with unexpected twists and turns culminating in today's fast, lightweight, and powerful computers that enable the modern world. Along the way you'll be introduced to semiconductors and logic gates, memory technology, CISC vs RISC, the origin of instruction sets like x86, ARM, RISC-V and the basics of assembly language programming and even reverse engineering.

Doug is a software developer with an educational background in Computer Science and experience in low-level development and a strong hobby interest in retrocomputing. The presentation is designed to be accessible and understandable to a wide audience, so whether you're an experienced software developer or are simply looking to learn about how computers work, all are welcome!