Science & technology | From the archives
A layman's guide to software
In 1985, The Economist explained how computer code works on Boolean algebra
COMPUTERS guide spaceships to the moon, run factories and help the lovelorn to find perfect mates. How? All that computer machinery can do is add, subtract and compare numbers: it is the programs that make computers clever. The jargon of the software industry often obscures the principles that lie behind computer programs. Here is a refresher course for the baffled.
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