Paperback Edition What do flashlights, the British invasion, black cats, and seesaws have to do with computers? In CODE, they show us the ingenious ways we manipulate language and invent new means of communicating with each other. And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity and our very human compulsion to communicate have driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries. Using everyday objects and familiar language systems such as Braille and Morse code, author Charles Petzold weaves an illuminating narrative for anyone who s ever wondered about the secret inner life of computers and other smart machines. It s a cleverly illustrated and eminently comprehensible story and along the way, you ll discover you ve gained a real context for understanding today s world of PCs, digital media, and the Internet. No matter what your level of technical savvy, CODE will charm you and perhaps even awaken the technophile within.

Charles Petzold從1984年開始編寫個人計算機程序，從1985年開始編寫 Microsoft Windows程序。他在《Microsoft Systems Joumal》1986年 12月號上發錶瞭第一篇關於Windows程序設計的雜誌論文。從1986年到1995年，他為《PC Magazine》撰寫“Environments”專欄，給讀者介紹瞭Windows和OS／2程序設計的許多方麵。

1994年5月，Petzold作為僅有的七個人之一（並且是唯一的作傢）被《Window Magazine》和Microsoft公司授予Windows Pioneer奬，以錶彰他對 Microsoft Windows的成功做齣的貢獻。