Introduction
This lab examines how computer hardware can be constructed. While the details necessary to build a complete computer - even one as simple as the Watson Virtual Machine - are beyond the scope of this lab, this lab illustrates how many of the basic components of a computer, such as the addition unit and comparison circuitry, can be constructed. Surprisingly, as we will see, digital computers are based on just three simple logic circuits, or "gates" as they are called. These gates, and, or, and not, can be interconnected in various ways to form all of the major functional components of a computer.