Computer Brains
How Computer Memory works
They say an elephant never forgets. Today we’re going to learn about when, if ever, a computer forgets, and how memory is stored.
Not only is my brother a talented artist, but he’s also a GENIUS. No really, He’s an apple genius, and over the holiday break, I had the pleasure of his expertise in upgrading my laptop’s RAM, doubling it’s memory capacity. So, what does that mean for my laptop?
The sticks that were upgraded on my computer are called RAM
. RAM is Random Access Memory. What RAM does is allow for the computer to have easy access to memory so it can do it’s work. What is helpful to understand in this context is how data is stored on a computer. Every piece of data on a computer starts out as a bit. a bit is comprised of binary code, or as we saw from the matrix, 1011010101010100101101
.
Think of RAM like the computer processors’ work desk. It’s where the OS gets to have easy access to programs I ask it to run, and where it’s making sure it can do all the work it needs to.
For each piece of information that needs to be stored, the computer leaves a spot in its memory for that data, and when that space is not being used, the computer releases that space, so that the spot is accessed as it’s needed, hence, Random Access Memory.
By doubling my computer’s capacity for Random Access Memory, I can now run multiple processes, and my computer will be able to facilitate each process without breaking a sweat. #NiceDeskBruh
To learn more about how Memory works, I suggest looking at these great articles that go into detail about each concept I brought up, and has a few fun exercises you can do to better understand Binary code, Bits, Bytes, and RAM.
- Explain That Stuff - How computer memory works
- How Stuff Works - Computer Memory
- Bits, Bytes, Building With Binary - BaseCS by Vaidehi Joshi
Tags
tech, memory, bits, binary, history, nerdlife, gititgurl, #DBCtech