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Cover of Code

How long does it take to read Code?

Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

Charles Petzold

Code by Charles Petzold takes about 7 hours 12 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 7 hours 12 minutes

A weekend read

First published 1999. 393 pages, about 108,075 words.

15 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 12 hours 1 minute
Average, 250 words a minute 7 hours 12 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 4 hours 30 minutes

The page count is the median across 7 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

What do flashlights, the British invasion, black cats, and seesaws have to do with computers? In CODE, they show us the ingenious ways we manipulate language and invent new means of communicating with each other. And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity and our very human compulsion to communicate have driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries. Using everyday objects and familiar language systems such as Braille and Morse code, author Charles Petzold weaves an illuminating narrative for anyone who’s ever wondered about the secret inner life of computers and other smart machines. It’s a cleverly illustrated and eminently comprehensible story—and along the way, you’ll discover you’ve gained a real context for understanding today’s world of PCs, digital media, and the Internet. No matter what your level of technical savvy, CODE will charm you—and perhaps even awaken the technophile within.

Subjects: Computer programming, Coding theory, Datenverarbeitung, Computers, Hardware, Coderingstheorie

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