The Core of Computing: Classical Systems Explained

Hey Techies! Today’s blog is a little different, and it’s not just for tech people. Physicists, curious minds, and even dreamers! Get ready, because today’s blog might just mess with everything you thought you knew about computers. We’re diving into Classical Computing,

Get ready to have your brain rebooted. We’re talking bits, logic gates, and the genius that built the digital world we live in. Buckle up, because the past just got a whole lot more fascinating. Let’s talk classical!

---

It All Starts With 0 and 1

So let’s zoom out a bit and talk about 0s and 1s. If you’re a computer science student, of course, you remember those from your first intro class (probably when you were still trying to figure out what a compiler was). But if you’re not, then don’t worry, in computer science, everything comes down to bits.

A bit is the smallest unit of information, and it can only be one of two things: 0 (OFF) or 1 (ON). And what’s even more mind-blowing is that those zeros and ones are the base of every application and every website you’ve ever used.

Now, let’s build on that and talk about states. A state is just whatever value your bit is holding. So if you have one bit, it’s easy, it’s either 0 or 1.

But the moment you add another bit, it’s like flipping two switches instead of one. Each switch can be on or off, and when you combine them, you get more possible outcomes:

• both off (00)

• first off, second on (01)

• first on, second off (10)

• both on (11)

And just like that, we’ve got four different possible states. Each extra bit adds more combinations, not just more numbers.

You can actually figure out how many total states are possible based on how many bits you have, using the following mathematical formula.

Where n is the number of bits & each added bit doubles the number of possible states.

And the collection of all possible combinations is what we call a State Space. So what you’re seeing here is literally the state space growing. It’s how many different 0s and 1s combos your system can hold. And that’s exactly why things get wild as systems scale.

So I’ve got a state space and I’m storing different combos of 0s and 1s, so my program’s doing its job, right? Well, think again.

Just storing states doesn’t do anything. We need to actually do stuff with them, and that’s where logic comes in.

Logic here is basically the set of rules that tells us how to transform one state into another. And we use what's called logic gates, tiny operations that take bits in, fiddle with them (in a controlled way), and give us a new output.

Here are a few examples of some:

• NOT: flips the bits. 0's become 1's and 1's become 0's.

• IDENTITY: Doesn't change anything. 0's stay 0's and 1's stay 1's.

• ZERO: no matter what you put in, it will always give you 0

• AND: Only gives 1 if both inputs are 1. Otherwise, it gives 0.

• NAND: Like AND, but then flips the result again.

• XOR (Exclusive OR): Gives 1 if the inputs are different, and 0 if they’re the same.

So far, we have been just flipping bits and following rules. In computer science, we call that deterministic. You give a certain input, and you always know exactly what output you’re getting; your output is predictable. Here we call this deterministic transformation, just pure logic.

If you know the input and the rules (logic gates), you can always predict the output. There's no mystery, no randomness, no surprises. You press the same keys, run the same code, and get the same result every time. That’s the magic of classical logic: it’s stable, consistent, and reliable.

The concept of determinism isn’t just limited to Classical Computing. It shows up everywhere, from algorithms that sort your data the same way every time to debugging code where reproducibility is key. Even entire fields like cryptography, compilers, and network protocols rely on predictable, deterministic behavior to ensure systems run exactly as intended.

So why Does Classical Computing Still Matter?

Your phone, your laptop, every game you’ve played, and every website you’ve ever opened are built on classical foundations.

Classical computing is fast, consistent, and solid, and it's what makes debugging possible, testing repeatable, and systems stable. From web development to machine learning, from operating systems to databases.

Everything we rely on today still runs on classical logic. It’s the reason why code behaves the same way across machines, why apps don’t just randomly crash, and why software engineers can actually sleep at night ( Joking)

Stay tuned for part 2, where we'll dive into Quantum Computing next, where things get a little strange. But for now, don’t forget the real OG just yet!

---

And with that, we reach the end of the blog. I hope you had a good read and learned a lot. Stay tuned as we'll cover more tech-related topics in future blogs .

Incase of any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to me via LinkedIn . I'm always open to fruitful discussions.🍏🦜