While 16 bit computers are a wee bit out of date, for learning the basics of the architecture that modern CPUs use it is a perfect starting point.  There are still quite a few parts to the entire unit and a part of that is the arithmetic logic unit, where arithmetic and logical operations are carried out. 

The reason that CPU architecture shows up in this weeks gaming news is that you can now see the APU of a 16 bit processor in action via the new hit, Minecraft.  Drop by Hack a Day for an incredible replication of this circuit painstakingly recreated in Minecraft and watch the video to see it actually perform.

“We love games here but we don’t often get a reason to write about them. This, however, is worth mentioning. The indie hit Minecraft is eating the entire internet right now. The game itself is hit and miss amongst our staff, but this project is unanimously accepted as awesome. [Theinternetftw} has created a simulation of the ALU section of a 16bit processor. He can set it in motion and run around watching as the states change. This is part of an even bigger project to create the entire processor as shown in the book “The Elements of Computer Systems“.

For those that are wondering how long it took him to place all of those pieces, he actually imported most of it from another program.”

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