Question

Hi. I just started lecture 1. When circuit "rewrites" itself...what is physically happening? I thought "circuit" meant a physical set of switches turning on currents and whatnot. Did the prof mean "circuit" in a metaphoric sense? Thanks

Answer 1

What do you mean by circuit "rewrites" itself?
Are you talking about a bit in memory being changed or set?
Maybe you are talking transistors?

You need to be more specific.

Answer 2

^what you just asked me is exactly what i'm trying to find out haha. What exactly is being changed when you write a program to do some function? It obviously can't be modifying the physical arrangement/ interactions of transistors...yet I'm pretty sure the word "circuit" literally means just that. So what i'm asking is if the prof means something else by his choice of the word "circuit".Thanks for the response though :)

Answer 3

A transitory is like a type of circuit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-td7YT-Pums

Transistors have an input, output, and control. The control determines whether the input is negated or not. Transistors are combined together to make logic gates OR, AND, NOT, NOR, and NAND which are easier to understand.

Logic gates can then be combined to make bits. When you have the outputs of gates being connected to each other's inputs, then you start getting interesting cyclical behavior that allows persistence. You send a current through one wire/input of the bit, and it flips the bit on. You send a current through another wire/input of the bit and it flips the bit off.

Answer 4

On the most basic level, consider if you had a physical metal switch on a circuit that could let current through or break the current. If you had a third wire which created a magnetic field, it would be able to flip the switch on and off. This isn't what actually happens, but it makes it easier to understand how circuitry alone could control itself internally.

Answer 5

hey Take a Course On boolean algebra