Computing

[From the last episode: We saw how a problem might be solved by splitting the work up and distributing it over multiple computers.] Distributed computing can be a useful way of solving hard problems. But there’s a limitation: all of that information has to be communicated between the computers to […]

[From the last episode: We looked at how the “concurrency” of multiple threads on a single CPU was actually illusory – but still useful.] Last time we talked about concurrency, by which we mean multiple threads or programs being executed at the same time. Which, as we saw, can’t really […]

[From the last episode: We looked in more detail at the characteristics of threads.] Last week we ended with a question: we’re talking about threads running at the same time, in parallel, but… if you have only one CPU, how would that even work? That’s totally not a dumb question. […]

[From the last episode: We took a quick detour to look at the fates of several different IoT services.] In our initial thread discussion, we saw that a thread is, for lack of a better word, a task that a processor can do independently of – and even concurrently with […]

[From the last episode: We looked at the different ways memory can be organized in different kinds of systems.] Let’s look at a scenario: you run a restaurant, but you’re short on funds to hire people. So you’re your own chief cook and bottle-washer. You do everything, from prep to […]