Hardware and logic

What is inside a computer, and how simple on-off switches add up to logic.

Foundations

Inside a computer3 lessonsProcessor, memory and storage: what makes it fast.Data representationData representation pathwayBits, binary numbers, and how many patterns a few bits can make.

Extensions

From gates to a processor4 lessonsAfter Data representation and Inside a computerBuild a calculator from switches.

Inside a computer follows AC9TDI8K01 (Years 7–8): what each specification measures, how it affects performance (finding the bottleneck), and choosing hardware for a job within a budget. Logic gates are introduced in Data representation (Why binary: logic gates); From gates to a processor (Years 9–10 extension) goes deeper: circuits from truth tables, adders, a latch that remembers, and a tiny processor that fetches, decodes and executes.

Foundations

Inside a computerProcessor, memory and storage: what makes it fast.For Years 7–8: what a computer's specifications measure (processor, RAM, storage, network, graphics), how each one affects how fast a job runs, finding the bottleneck, and choosing hardware for a job within a budget.

Extensions

From gates to a processorBuild a calculator from switches.For Years 9–10, after Data representation's logic gates lesson: combine gates into circuits, add binary numbers with full adders, store a bit in a latch, then run programs on a tiny processor clock tick by clock tick.After: Data representation and Inside a computer

Other pathways: Data representation · Networks and security · The command line