4 ms·
"Education is a series of small lies." Spoken by my intro to computer engineering professor, upon telling us that most real processors actually have some ternar
by scott_s 9y ago
"Education is a series of small lies." Spoken by my intro to computer engineering professor, upon telling us that most real processors actually have some ternary logic.
The notion here is that educating beginners about a subject is different from communication between experts. Yes, experts use jargon because it is more efficient. But, the notion here is that if you truly understand something, you should be able to find a way to explain it to a non-expert, building up from words and concepts they already understand. And, further, if you can't do that, then perhaps your understanding is not as deep as you thought it was.
- Cyph0n 9y ago> most real processors actually have some ternary logic Was he referring to the Z state? If so, it's not really ternary logic but rather a "no result" state for cases where there is a control signal involved (e.g., in a tri-state buffer).
- mod 9y agoSo it was a small lie?
- Cyph0n 9y agoNot really, no. More like an unnecessary detail, especially if it was an introductory course on the subject. It's not like knowledge of the Z state will suddenly change how you would design systems.
- tlb 9y agoModern CPUs have phase-locked loops generating clocks for each region of the chip. These use separate pull-up and pull-down mosfets to control the frequency, so arguably ternary. Even more non-binary things happen inside DRAM and flash memory.
- Cyph0n 9y agoEhh I don't believe PLLs have a ternary component at all. I'm not an expert though. DRAM is analog-based due to the fact that the core memory unit is a capacitor, so it can't be ternary (not digital). I might agree with flash though.
- ythn 9y agoIf something is too complex to be explained to a college freshman, it might be time for a paradigm shift to simplify (I.e. Ptolemaic astronomy vs heliocentric) Algebra and calculus were one bleeding edge research that only the elite understood, now kids are learning it in middle school.