WebGL And Computation From First Principles

2020

A switch turns physical control into a computation that can grow.

This sequence follows that switch through state, Boolean choice, addition, and raw GPU execution. Relay contacts, CMOS transistors, FPGA lookup tables, and shader fragments use different materials, yet each one gives a concrete home to the same operations.

The browser keeps every step visible. Each lesson adds one mechanism and carries it forward into the next.

Begin With the Act of Control

A valve redirects water. A relay redirects current. A multiplexer redirects a value. Each device chooses what can affect what comes next, and that choice supplies the first useful unit of computation.

Code makes the chain inspectable. Run each operation, change an input, and watch the next state follow from the mechanism rather than from a memorized slogan.

Carry the Same Mechanism Across Materials

The browser supplies a laboratory that already runs on laptops and phones. It can hold symbols, execute rules, display state, and let a reader test every transition immediately.

The same habits scale into Vulkan, CUDA, RDNA, ROCm, OpenCL, Verilog, FPGA fabrics, and large simulations: name the state, expose the route, define the update, and account for the physical resources that perform it.

Arithmetic opens the path to numerical methods. Numerical methods open the path to models that predict and control physical systems.

Math Symbol Reference

∀ ∂ ∃ ∅ ∇ ∈ ∉ ∋ ∏ ∑ ϶ ϵ ϱ ϰ ϝ Ϝ ϖ ϕ ϒ ϑ α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ ς σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω ℝ Even more math HTML entities

Build the Chain One Working Step at a Time

Start with the WebGL scaffold, run the minimum shader, trace control through a switch, assemble MUX-first logic, and finish with binary addition. Each page gives the next page a mechanism it can use.