Code

What Code is about

Computers can feel like sealed boxes, but Charles Petzold argues that they grew out of something very human: our ingenuity and our urge to communicate. Over the past two centuries, that drive led people to invent new ways of sending messages and manipulating language, and those inventions eventually became the technology around us.

The book builds its case from everyday things, such as flashlights, seesaws, Braille, and Morse code, and moves patiently toward an understanding of how machines really work inside. The explanations are cleverly illustrated and easy to follow, and they are meant for readers of any technical level. It will suit anyone curious about the hidden life of computers and smart machines, and anyone who wants some context for PCs, digital media, and the Internet without needing a degree to get through it.

Questions about Code

When was Code published?

Code by Charles Petzold was first published in 1999.

Was Code one of the best books of 1999?

Code is #22 on BookWard's Best Books of 1999, out of 52 1999 books that cleared our data bar. 255 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (22 ratings).

Why is Code on the Best Books of 1999 list?

255 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.2 out of 5 (22 ratings).

More of the best books of 1999

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J. K. Rowling, #1
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky, #2
• Wings of Fire A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, #3
• On Writing Stephen King, #4
• The Bad Beginning Lemony Snicket, #5
• The Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah, #6

See the full Best Books of 1999, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.