I built an 8-bit computer on breadboards, from basic circuit components and bare wire. In just 16 bytes of memory it can do cool stuff like discovering prime numbers, though I’d be lying if I said my primary motivation wasn’t the flashing lights.


An 8-bit Breadboard Computer

I built a computer! A very primitive one, made out of breadboards, bare wire, and logic gates. But it’s fully functioning, it looks awesome, and unlike the staggering complexity of modern processors, it’s actually possible for one person to understand the whole thing. Technical specs: Why? Mostly for the flashing lights. Why? (In more detail) […]

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How the Ben Eater 8-Bit Breadboard Computer Works

I made a computer – here’s how it works! This is going to be too technical an overview for those without any background knowledge. But for those who made their way through Ben Eater’s full video series this should be a good 1-stop summary, and for those with some background knowledge about computing this should […]

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Programs and more Commands for the Ben Eater 8-Bit Breadboard Computer

So now that I have a fancy programmable computer working with its guts bare to the world, what can I do with it? Well, not much. The 8 bits of information the computer can shift around necessarily has to be split into 4 bits for the memory address location and 4 bits for the program […]

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