Get a copy of "The Elements of Computing Systems" http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Computing-Systems-Building-Principles/dp/0262640686/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books

Get a copy of "The Elements of Computing Systems" http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Computing-Systems-Building-Principles/dp/0262640686/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284740379&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Computing-Systems-Building-Pr... http://books.google.com/books?id=THie6tt-2z8C&dq=the+elements+of+computing+systems&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=YZWTTPaqDZC6sQOPhPTACg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAw http://books.google.com/books?id=THie6tt-2z8C&dq=the+ele... which will seriously take you from logic gate/chip design all the way to scripting languages and an implementation of tetris on a java-esque language/vm. Totally awesome! You can download the simulation software which is used in the book here if you want to play w/ logic gates/HDL etc. more http://www1.idc.ac.il/tecs/ http://www1.idc.ac.il/tecs/