The distinction between a static compiler and an interpreter is one that can cause controversy. One programmer's compiler is another's interpreter and the whole subject gets very murky when you throw in the idea of the Virtual Machine and Just In Time compilation. So what is it all about?

The trick the computer uses in order to be so productive is to divide its attention between a number of tasks – and for this it uses interrupts.

It may sound like a daunting topic, but Boolean logic is very easy to explain and to understand. It represents the simplest of all the logics and the very basics of computing.

Every programmer should understand how the Internet works and this means understanding IP addressing and routing. It's a good time to find out about such things with DOS attacks on the rise and IPv6 about to take over from IPv4.

The number seven appears to have special properties - is it really magic?

It comes as something of a surprise that the task of sorting has yet another layer of complexity - the merge sort.

Nowadays the McCulloch-Pitts neuron tends to be overlooked but they are still of interest because of the way they can be used as the components of computer-like systems.

What's modulo arithmetic got to do with the real world?

The mouse - where did it come from and how does it work?

We are being offered ever more cores within a single processor as if this was as good as making the machine go faster. What exactly is the change from single to multi-core all about?

We take multitasking for granted now but it was a difficult technology to get right - and still is.

Neural networks are useful and might provide a route to an artificial brain.

What are the limits to computation? The computer science theory of computation can be intimidating because of its use of logic but taking a programmer's approach makes it seem much simpler. So if you want to know what a non-computable number is - read on.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing is both a technology and a legal, if not moral, battle.

A quirky look at the power supply. Why do computers need power at all and how do power supplies work. The answers are surprising.

XML is a general purpose markup language that can be used to control the structure of data. Despite the fact that many prefer the simplicity of JSON it still has many advantages. What makes it so good?

Public key encryption is vital to the commercial Internet. We look at how it works and explain the RSA system in detail.