4 HN users recommended this explainer4 months2020–2023score 4
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
HN commenters prefer it over other transistor explanations as an enlightening starting point that leads into building logic gates and a CPU.
Ben Eater gives a detailed look at how an NPN bipolar junction transistor works and what it does. It is an eleven-minute explanation aimed at building real understanding of the device.
“I found Ben Eater's videos on how semiconductors work and how transistors work interesting and enlightening.” (HN, 2022)
As someone who is not an electrical engineer, I found Ben Eater's videos on how semiconductors work and how transistors work interesting and enlightening. How semiconductors work: [link] How a transistor works: [this video]
Interesting, enlightening transistor explanation for non-engineers.
Aside from his basic 8-bit CPU, Ben Eater goes into how transistors work too: [this video] . Once you've got transistors, his videos walk you through making gates. Once you've got gates, he switches to the 74xx series and builds a CPU.
Starting point for building up from transistors to gates and CPU.
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