The Book
Why the steps work
Understanding behind the scenes, what is happening internally and how the whole systems and programs work.
The steps tell you what to type. This book tells you what is happening, and why. It is short. You can read it in a few sittings.
Two kinds of page
This site has two kinds of page. They do different jobs.
| The steps | The book | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | What do I type? | Why does that work? |
| Read it | At the keyboard | Away from the keyboard |
| Length | A few minutes each | Ten to fifteen minutes each |
You do not have to read the book first. Many people run a step, get stuck on a word, and come here to find out what it meant. That is a good way to use it.
Contents
| # | Chapter | What it explains |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What happens when you run a program | Programs, memory, and what the shell does |
| 2 | Files, folders, and the tree | Where things live, and how to say where |
| 3 | Two systems, one machine | What WSL is, and where your files live |
| 4 | The shell as a language | Options, pipes, redirection and exit codes |
| 5 | Where software comes from | Packages, sudo, PATH and .bashrc |
| 6 | From source to a running program | Every stage clang puts your file through |
| 7 | Three ways to run code | C, Python and Java compared, with a video |
| 8 | Stopping time | What a debugger does, with lldb |
A note on the English
This book uses simple words on purpose. Many readers are learning both computing and English at the same time. Short words and short sentences make that easier.
When a new technical word appears, it is written in bold and explained straight away. You do not need to look anything up.