The successful 30-Second series tackles coding, the science of programming the technology which operates in almost every aspect of modern life.
Computer code operates behind nearly everything we do - from small calculations in the home to complex executions that drive the global economy. It influences who we see, follow, and like online and describes the websites we visit, the connections between them, the sounds heard on Spotify and videos watched on YouTube.

There is very little we do which hasn't, in some way, been codified, analysed, and computed electronically, yet few of us possess a basic understanding of that ultimate language barrier. That's a shame, because coding is the key to so much. Simple programming concepts can explain plenty about the modern world and the changes to come in the age of AI.

With insightful text edited by computer scientist and technology podcaster Mark Steadman and contributions from other industry experts, learn the origins of computer code, from the first computers developed in during the Industrial Revolution, through the codebreaking machines used during World War II to the hyperfast computers of the present day.

Have all the key terms of this fascinating science explained in simple, bitesize chunks of information-rich text, as well as meeting the key figures who have helped make computer science what it is today.

From algorithms and scripts to block-chain, bits and bots, turn to 30-Second Coding to reveal the secrets behind this fascinating subject.

6 Introduction Chapter 1: First Computers 12 GLOSSARY 14 The Industrial Revolution 16 The Difference Engine 18 Profile: Ada Lovelace 20 Human Computers 22 Task-Specific Computers 24 Mechanical Computers 26 Codebreakers 28 Instruction Sets & Stored Programs 30 The Fetch-Execute Cycle 32 The Transistor Revolution 34 The Personal Computer Age Chapter 2: Instructing Computers 38 GLOSSARY 40 Assembly Language 42 Fortran: The First High-Level Language 44 Profile: Grace Hopper 46 Procedural Languages 48 Compiled Code 50 Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) 52 Code Libraries 54 Running Code in the Cloud Chapter 3: Code Concepts 58 GLOSSARY 60 Binary & Bits 62 Data Types 64 Profile: Linus Torvalds 66 Data Structures: Arrays 68 Variables 70 If-Then-Else: Conditional Statements 72 Loops & Iterations 74 Profile: Steve Wozniak 76 Functions 78 Making Code Portable 80 Buffering & Caches 82 Eventual Consistency Chapter 4: What Coders Do 86 GLOSSARY 88 User Interface & User Experience 90 Profile: Tim Berners-Lee 92 Database Operation: CRUD 94 Web Development 96 Scripting 98 Engineering 100 Agile Development & the Scrum 102 Hacking 104 Debugging 106 Scaling & Pseudocode Chapter 5: Solving Problems with Code 110 GLOSSARY 112 Algorithms 114 The FizzBuzz Test 116 Sorting & Big O Notation 118 The Two Generals Problem 120 Compression & the Huffman Tree 122 Search Engine Optimization 124 Face Detection 126 Unicode 128 End-to-End Encryption 130 Pattern Matching Languages 132 Profile: Larry Page Chapter 6: Modern Concerns & Concepts 136 GLOSSARY 138 AI: Artificial Intelligence 140 Black Box 142 Computers Cannot Determine Truth 144 What is Blockchain? 146 Detecting Bots 148 Integrated Development Environment 150 Profile: Alan Turing 152 Appendices 154 Resources 156 Notes on Contributors 158 Index 160 Acknowledgments