Charles Petzold is the author of the books Code and The Annotated Turing
Visit charlespetzold.com → On Hacker News Aug 2014 – Sep 2026
Software Engineering 6History & Retro Computing 5Science & Space 2Math & Algorithms 2Tech Industry & Business 2Web & Frontend 1
I am overjoyed to announce that the 2nd edition of my book Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software will be published by Pearson on August 19, 2022. As you can see, the covers of the two editions are nearly identical except that the 2nd edition uses the “dark mode” option:
In a startling disruption of the space-time continuum — and a violation of the basic maxim of publishing that nothing is ever on time — the publication date of the 2nd edition of my book Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software was bumped up by 12 days. That means that the publication date is today…
A recent blog post by consultant John Cook reminded everybody about the infamous “Hello World” programs in the early chapters of the first five editions of Programming Windows:
Whenever a 2nd edition of a book is published, people ask “I already have the 1st edition. Do I need to get the 2nd?” It’s a legitimate question and I’ve asked it myself. Reading a 2nd edition after the 1st is not trivial: It’s a commitment of both additional money and additional time.