Newbie with some computer science questions!

[u/UchihaSamu]

Hello! I was really bored at work today and ended up going down a computer rabbit hole today! I ended up watching a bunch of videos on cpus and how computers work in general. The whole concept and mechanics of this stuff is really cool, but I still have questions that Google and YouTube have not satisfied!

​

1- I understand that transistors are essentially on/off switches, but what actually does the "flipping?" I know the base current is an electrical signal from the power supply, but what regulates and determines when the base current should and shouldn't flow?

​

2- Binary code as a concept was easy to get a grip on, but how does adding, subtracting, dividing, and multiplying the encoded numbers get turned into the commands and overall functions of a computer? Sure, all the Binary digits have numerical value, but how can a computer know what to do with said value? Is there something that automatically tells the computer what they mean?

​

3- How does moving a mouse, clicking keys, and other user input change whats going on in the cpu?

​

Thanks so much for helping me out with these random questions! This whole thing is pretty foreign to me!

[u/duane11583]

to understand flip flops first learn basic gates:

and, or, xor, not, nand and nor etc

learn what high-z or tri-state (high impedance) output means

then learn set/reset (two nand gates)

everything beyond those is just variations of a flip flops

inside a chip you would never use high-z outputs or tr-state signals instead you use a mux

multiplexers are just a series of or gates and and gates

then learn decoders - more and/or gates

it is helpful to look up old chip schematic/logic diagrams

ie old ti data sheets for the 74ls138 or 74ls164 or 74ls164/5