Best Books and Starter Kits for Learning Computer Electrical Engineering at 14

hello, i have been really interested in computer engineering electrical, to better say
being able to put together a computer ie programming the os and all
i code in c and c++, but this question is for the electrical part

i've read half of "principles of electronics by vk mehta' and i feel confused because i dont know how to put it together in my mind.

breifly can you please tell me what the ^best^ way you'd recomend me to go on this. books? what should i buy? z80?

im going to go to collegue but thats when i turn like 17 im 14 now
so need solutions thanks

i think what can be more useful than books is if you go to the websites of universities that put their courses online and you can look at their material. schools such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, and MIT put some of their courses online and you can watch all the lectures and they usually put up the class notes, too. Those can be more helpful than reading just textbooks.

Just a bit more information would be helpful. I'm not familiar with Mehta's book, and its Amazon page doesn't tell me much about what it covers.

Are you trying to learn about computer circuits (e.g., CMOS) or computer logic (AND, OR, etc. gates)?

In general, there's always confusion when you first try learning something new, but if you plug away, pieces start coming together and making sense. At least that's how it's been for me.

Often reading about the same subject from a different source helps clear things up. If there's some subject in Principles of Electronics that you're not getting, try looking at the same topic in Wikipedia, for example.

it says its for b.e. / b.tech and other engg examinations, it ends up covering binary after you understood alot of the parts, it divides a chapter for each things, and has a test every so and so, there is a lot of math i wasnt expecting

cmos? like putting together the computer ie putting a z80 and making do a task
oh wait here comes the logic, i think i feel what you mean by and & or from programming but not sure, logic? mmmm i dont even know how to picture it, sorry, im not buggin u to teach me, just help clear this

Well, there's the logic of programming (if / else / case / etc.), which you already know if you're writing C & C++, and there's the logic of gates (AND / NAND / etc.) which only comes into play when you're designing low level circuits.

That's why I asked for more info about exactly what you are trying to learn.

Yeah, that pesky math, LOL. I've worked in digital design and programming, and the toughest math I've encountered professionally is Boolian Algebra. Never needed Calculus (although I've studied it for fun). If you want to learn how the underlying circuits work, rather than just using them as logical black boxes, the math is going to be unavoidable.

Hi,
I think it is nice to see kids your age who already know what they wanna do when they go to college. The only thing though is that when you mentioned "Computer Engineering Electrical" I think you meant Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Those are actually different fields of expertise although they may be similar at some parts in the curriculum when you go to college. And yes, MATH is really a fundamental part of all Engineering Courses. You might even be spending the first couple of years in college dealing with Math but It is something I am sure you can handle. If you like what you are doing, then everything becomes easier.

About your question of wanting to work on a Z80, I'd really understand where the confusion is coming from. If you can code C or C++ that is good however you need to know what exactly you would want your Z80 to do. Reading the "principles of electronics by vk mehta" even before going through the basic theory of Logic, Circuits and Electronics would really make things confusing. I suggest you start on the Basics and then move up so you don't get confused with all the termilogies. Lastly, if you really just want a Z80 to do something that is why you are asking here, then give us more information about what you want it to do so we can see if we can be of help. However, it does not mean that it will answer all your confusion. It would still be best to start from the basics... I hope I was of help

You need to start with the basics of electricity and electronics, then see how these principles are applied to digital circuits and eventually computers.

The following sites offer free courses of instruction and advice for beginners. Have look at a few, and discover which one(s) suit your approach. Start with simple projects and work your way up.

We will always be here to offer the best advice and wisdom we can.
Many sites have a user forum for asking questions on any technical aspect.
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http://www.allaboutcircuits.com - a series of online textbooks covering electricity and electronics

www.learnabout-electronics.org/index.php - Descriptions of components and principles, good diagrams, animations, & fault-finding techniques

http://www.satcure-focus.com/hobby/index.htm - Useful range of ideas tutorials circuits links etc

http://electronics-for-beginners.com/links.php

http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/ - Teaching from basic principles, resistor code calculators, projects

http://www.radio-electronics.com - useful information and tutorials

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/index.html - plus calculators & tools

got cha, so if i understand how the logic and circuit gets TOGETHER then i can understand the components i can relay on cool.. im def going to be googling "electrical circuits" and "theory of logic"?

thanks for putting this together!

It should be "Logic Circuits" to be exact. As mentioned by Bob above there is also "Logic programming (if / else / case / etc.)", they are the same thing but the later one is more like the programming counterpart.

Yes, it sound like this book you read is one of those "crash courses" designed to get you through a standard test, and not designed to really teach you the subject(s).

It takes time to learn this stuff. And you need to take it one bit at a time. Also, "lab work" is very important. All college curriculum includes Lab time. I started out at around your age, and the way I learned it was by getting my hands on it. My need to get things to work, drove my need to learn the math.

By all means, get the Z80 (and supporting components). Build it and then attempt to program it. And/or delve into microcontrollers. Microcontrollers might be easier because they are, basically, the whole computer wrapped in one package, along with other functional blocks, such as one or more Analog to Digital Converters [ADC], Capture/Compare/PWM module(s), Timers/Counters, etc. You can do some really fun stuff with all of that. But they are a bit complex, so probably good to get a book or find on-line projects/tutorials.

Basically: Patience and Persistence!

Also the Arduino (or it's derivatives) is a great way to get started with microcontrollers. There is also the PICAXE and the BasicStamp.

Then, the Raspberry PI is great for learning programming (and if you can't afford a monitor for it, but if you have a computer and a home network, then you can connect the raspberry pi to the family TV (assuming you have one that accepts an HDMI input) and use it to instal Raspian Linux, and get it set up for SSH and then you can do everything via SSH over Ethernet (Nuts and Volts has a couple of articles that will help with that -- April, May and August 2013)

So, check these out:

* http://www.adafruit.com
* http://learn.adafruit.com
* https://www.sparkfun.com
* https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials [From basic electronics to way beyond!]
* http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot
* http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/arduino-t-1.html?ref=top [Also check out the *Seeeduino*]
* http://www.adafruit.com/category/105 [source for Raspberry PI -- make sure to get *Model B*]
* http://www.mcmelectronics.com/content/en-US/raspberry-pi [another source for Raspberry PI -- postage kind of high]
http://learn.adafruit.com/category/raspberry-pi [plethora of projects and tutorials!*]
* http://www.raspberrypi.org [The PI home turf]
* http://www.picaxe.com
* http://www.parallax.com [Home of the *Basic Stamp*]
* http://www.parallax.com/tabid/295/Default.aspx
* http://www.parallax.com/Education/EducationHome/tabid/463/Default.aspx
.
.
.* The Adafruit Tutorials page is a bit of a mess, and there doesn't appear to be a "Lesson 1" but Lesson 2 should get you started, and there's a Lesson 3 and Lesson 4... you just have to hunt for them

Also check out:

* http://fritzing.org
* https://www.circuitlab.com/ [but it's not so _free_ anymore
* http://www.partsim.com [rather limited but still free]

And if you just want to do a schematic, this is pretty cool (no simulation):
* http://www.digikey.com/schemeit#