Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Bit weird to call it analog while continuous is meant. Any chess on a physical board is analog.



Analog is the study of continuous circuits.

Digital is the study of (usually) binary circuits.

--------

Ex: an OpAmp is called an analog computer sometimes, because you can do things like Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide, exponent, differentiate, or integrate voltages. (ex: 0.543V + 1.1V == 1.643V output). This is troublesome in practice because a bit of noise (ex: +.05V error) propagates.

This is in contrast to a digital computer, which encodes data into 0 or 1. There are things like PAM4 which encodes data as 0, 1, 2, or 3 (2-bits per signal), or other such "discrete steps". But the overall concept of "snapping" data to specific voltage levels allows you to fix noise issues.


Yeah I just forgot the word continuous and never changed the name lol. But my thought process is that an analog clock moves smoothly instead of being restricted to minutes, and analog circuits are continuous.


I know what you mean, but I guess analog electronics are continuous? The author notes at the end of the README that he's an electrical engineer so maybe that's where it's coming from.


Agreed. But I suppose the creator (an electrical engineering student) thinks of continuous vs. discrete in terms of analog vs. digital signals.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2025 batch! Applications are open till May 13

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: