track: what a computer does

4 articles · newest first

Isometric diorama of an open drawer holding neatly labelled cards of data, one card lifted out to show it is made of tiny numbered blocks

What is a file, really? A named box of bytes

Lesson 4 of what a computer does: every photo, row and document your vibe-coded app saves is one of these. What a file actually is, why its type matters, and how it differs from memory that forgets.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

Editorial infographic of the fetch, decode, execute loop as three labelled stages in a circle with arrows returning to the start

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What does a CPU do? The worker reading every instruction

Lesson 3 of what a computer does: the chip doing the actual work while you vibe code. What a CPU is, the tiny loop it runs billions of times a second, and why it's where speed and cost come from.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

Extreme macro photograph of the gold contact fingers of a computer memory module, lit with cool blue accent light against a dark, softly blurred background

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What is memory (RAM)? The desk your computer works on

Lesson 2 of what a computer does: why a vibe-coded app slows down or crashes when it's busy: it ran out of working memory. What RAM is, why it forgets, and how it differs from storage.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min

Flat illustration of a friendly robot reading a numbered recipe card and doing each step in turn, with a small result appearing

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What is a program? The recipe your computer follows

Lesson 1 of what a computer does: when you vibe code, your AI writes one of these for you. A program is just a list of exact steps the computer follows in order, no magic and no guessing.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 4 min