Behind the Scenes: My "How Computers Really Work" Series on Computerphile

Written with LLM assistance.
Details at end.

I’ve been meaning to write about something that’s become a regular part of my life over the past year and a bit: my Computerphile videos. If you’ve ever wondered what really happens inside your computer at the lowest level¹, this series is for you.

The series covers the fundamentals of CPU operation: machine code, maths, pipelining, branch prediction, out of order execution, register renaming, interrupts, supervisor/kernel mode, and how MMUs work. This morning I recorded an episode (not yet released) that puts it all together, showing how these features combine in an operating system to enable pre-emptive multitasking.

Compiler Explorer, LLC

It’s been over a year since I updated my blog; and I’ve been making some pretty fundamental changes to the infrastructure I host it all on. So this is more of a test post than a hugely informative one.

That said; the reason I’be been making those changes is because, a couple of weeks ago I formed “Compiler Explorer LLC” as an Illinois-based corporation.

Does this mean Compiler Explorer is going to be a business now?!

Happy 10th Birthday Compiler Explorer!

Today is Compiler Explorer’s 10th Birthday:

commit 15ea5e164b55c2b5ee0d3b432e3984b8f361afd2
Author: Matt Godbolt <matt@godbolt.org>
Date:   Tue May 22 21:07:40 2012 -0500

    Initial import of GCC-Explorer

Ten years ago I got permission to open source a little tool called GCC Explorer. I’d developed it over a week or so of spare time at my then-employer DRW in node.js, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Recording and editing Two's Complement

Like so many, I started a podcast – Two’s Complement – during the pandemic, with my good friend and colleague Ben Rady.

Some folks asked how we made it sound so “professional”, and so I’m sharing here how we do it.

Microphone and setup

Most importantly: get everyone to record their audio locally. Audacity is free and works perfectly for this. Make sure you test that you can’t hear each other’s sound in the mix. Start recording, make sure the right microphone is in use by tapping it and observing the wiggly lines and then get others to make noise and ensure you hear them but don’t see the wiggly lines on your side.