writing

CPU

A note on Putting the 'You' in CPU, the best deep dive on how computers actually run your programs.

1 min read #recommendation#systems
archive. originally published on my bearblog in 2023. preserved here with its real date. my thinking has moved on. the post has not.

If you’ve ever been curious about computers, you might have wondered how they run programs and the steps involved in the process. I know I did. I read bits and pieces of information here and there, but I never quite got the full picture. Maybe because I was lazy.

Then one day, I stumbled upon a post trending on Hacker News titled “Putting the ‘You’ in CPU”. It’s one of the best and most detailed articles I’ve ever read (very long one). The authors must have researched for weeks to pull it off, and it shows.

As I read through it, I realized it was hard to recall everything, so I used excalidraw to sketch out a visual illustration to reinforce my learning. I’m sharing it mainly for my own reference. Don’t expect it to make sense to anyone else.

That said, if you haven’t read the article, go read it. It’s a fantastic resource for anyone curious about how a CPU actually works.