See my comments here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11522126 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11522126 You are right about the difference, you are w

See my comments here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11522126 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11522126 You are right about the difference, you are wrong when you say that thinking about them like this will mean I'll never understand them. It's the merging of the N (or P) bands that makes the magic of a transistor happen, but not thinking of them as diode-like junctions means you're only thinking about them one way, not as an integrated concept. We are probably in violent agreement, but I suggest that if you only understand diodes as diodes and transistors as transistors, you are limiting your points of view, and potentially not seeing the whole picture.