Intro
When starting out, it can be hard to learn all the various terms used in computational redstone. This post is here to clear up as many terms as possible in a clear and concise manner. With this many terms, I don’t plan to go in-depth on all of them (e.g. I’ll explain what a CPU is but not the specifics on how it works) however, many terms will have links to relevant information. So just be aware that many terms have a lot more aspects you can learn about elsewhere.
I encourage any and all criticism, comments, or recommendations since I’d like this to be as complete and useful as possible.
Note: Each line with a right arrow can be opened by clicking
Updates
Updates get older as you go further down.
2024 March 19th
Removed square brackets around links
Added Redstone category
Added to A-Z:
- Half Adder
- Full Adder
- Redcoder
- Control Unit
Added Terms
- Branch Misprediction
- Branch Predictor
- Branch
- Cache
- Comparator
- Computational Redstone
- GPU
- Game Tick
- Hard-Powered
- Immediate
- Input
- Jump
- Math Unit
- NOOP
- Octal
- Output
- Pipelining Hazard
- Pipelining
- Read After Write Hazard
- Redstone Dust
- Redstone Tick
- Repeater
- Signal Strength
- Soft-Powered
- Target Block
- Ternary
- Torch
- Write After Read Hazard
- Write After Write Hazard
2024 March 18th
I’m not sure this is a complete list of the changes, but you can always check the previous versions if you need the details
Added Theory category
Added various descriptions, including many of the new terms
Added links to various terms
Added to A-Z
- ALU
- Accumulator
- Arithmetic Logic Unit
- Binary
- Bit
- Bit Width
- Byte
- Carry In
- Carry Out
- Cin
- Clock
- Cout
- D Flip-Flop
- Decimal
- Dual Read Register
- Edge-Triggered
- False
- Flip-Flop
- GB
- Gigabyte
- Gray Code
- Hex
- Hexadecimal
- Inverter
- JK Flip-Flop
- KB
- Kilobyte
- Level-Triggered
- MB
- Megabyte
- Nibble
- Off
- On
- One-Hot
- Pulse Extender
- Pulse Generator
- ROM
- Read Only Memory
- Register
- Ripple-Carry Adder
- SR Flip-Flop
- Serial Circuit
- Signed Number
- T Flip-Flop
- TB
- Terabyte
- True
- Two’s Complement
- Unsigned Binary
- Unsigned Number
Added Terms
- Binary
- Signed Number
- Decimal
- Hexadecimal
- One-Hot
- Gray Code
- Two’s Complement
- True
- False
- Bit Width
- Bit
- Nibble
- Byte
- Kilobyte
- Megabyte
- Gigabyte
- Terabyte
- Carry In
- Carry Out
- Edge-Triggered
- Level-Triggered
- Combinational Circuit
- Serial Circuit
- Read Only Memory
- Redcoder
- Register
- Dual Read Register
- Accumulator
- Clock
- Pulse Generator
- Pulse Extender
2024 March 11th
Changed All Terms A-Z to a table
Changed Multiplexer and Demultiplexer to point to Mux and Demux respectively in All Terms A-Z
2024 March 10th
Added terms:
- Combinational Circuit
- Sequential Circuit
2024 March 9th
Removed headers for updates and descriptions
Added Adder Types Subcategory
Added All Terms A-Z
Changed descriptions to “click to open” to avoid categories being buried
Added terms:
- Flip Flop
- Latch
Added descriptions for:
- Enable
2024 March 8th
Changed the Update date format from numeric YMD (2024-03-08) to a written month version (2024 March 8th)
Fixed the NOT Gate description
Added terms:
- Program Counter
- Program ROM
- SR Flip Flop
- D Flip Flop
- T Flip Flop
- JK Flip Flop
- SR Latch
- D Latch
- T Latch
- JK Latch
Added descriptions for:
- Program Counter
- Program ROM
- Multiplier
- Divider
2024 February 7th
Initial version
Largely incomplete list, will add more over time
Wrote a lot of terms with “Todo” since I wanna put them in but can’t be bothered to handle it all yet
Most of the existing terms lack links to resources and I’m not sure of the quality of those that do
I encourage any recommendations for links along with any other criticism/comments/etc.
Updates are hidden by default to avoid obscuring the terms below.
All Terms A-Z
A list of all terms along with which category they fall under.
The descriptions for each term are found in the specified category.
Note: When there are multiple options for a single A-Z term, they are listed and separated by //
All Terms (154)
| Term | Category |
|---|---|
| ALU | See Arithmetic Logic Unit |
| AND Gate | Logic Gates |
| Accumulator | CPU Components |
| Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Adder-Subtractor | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Address | Memory Circuits |
| Arithmetic Logic Unit | CPU Components |
| BCS | See Borrow Carry Subtractor |
| Binary | Theory |
| Bit | Theory |
| Bit Length | See Bit Width |
| Bit Width | Theory |
| Borrow Carry Subtractor | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Branch | CPU Components |
| Branch Misprediction | CPU Components |
| Branch Predictor | CPU Components |
| Bus | Miscellaneous |
| Bussing | See Bus |
| Byte | Theory |
| CCA | See Carry Cancel Adder |
| CLA | See Carry-Lookahead Adder |
| CLE | See Carry Look Everywhere (Adder) |
| CPU | See Central Processing Unit |
| CSA | See Carry-Save Adder |
| Cache | CPU Components |
| Carry Cancel Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Carry Look Everywhere (Adder) | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Carry-Lookahead Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Carry-Save Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Central Processing Unit | CPU Components |
| Clock | CPU Components |
| Combinational Circuit | Theory |
| Comparator | Redstone |
| Computational Redstone | Redstone |
| Control Unit | CPU Components |
| D Flip-Flop | Memory Circuits |
| D Latch | Memory Circuits |
| Decimal | Theory |
| Decoder | Control Logic |
| Demultiplexer | Control Logic |
| Demux | See Demultiplexer |
| Divider | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Dual Read Register | CPU Components |
| Edge-Triggered | Theory |
| Enable | Memory Circuits |
| Encoder | Control Logic |
| False | Theory |
| False Gate | Logic Gates |
| Flip-Flop | Memory Circuits |
| Full Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| GB | See Gigabyte |
| GPU | Miscellaneous |
| Game Tick | Redstone |
| Gigabyte | Theory |
| Gray Code | Theory |
| Half Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Hard-Powered | Redstone |
| Hex | See Hexadecimal |
| Hexadecimal | Theory |
| I/O | See Input // Output |
| ICA | See Instant Carry Adder |
| IMPLY Gate | Logic Gates |
| IO | See Input // Output |
| ISA | See Instruction Set Architecture |
| Immediate | CPU Components |
| Input | Theory |
| Instant Carry Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Instruction Set Architecture | CPU Components |
| Inverter | See Redstone Torch // NOT Gate |
| JK Flip-Flop | Memory Circuits |
| JK Latch | Memory Circuits |
| Jump | CPU Components |
| KB | See Kilobyte |
| Kilobyte | Theory |
| Latch | Memory Circuits |
| Level-Triggered | Theory |
| Logic Gate | Logic Gates |
| MB | See Megabyte |
| Math Unit | CPU Components |
| Megabyte | Theory |
| Multiplexer | Control Logic |
| Multiplier | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Mux | See Multiplexer |
| NAND Gate | Logic Gates |
| NIMPLY Gate | Logic Gates |
| NOOP | CPU Components |
| NOR Gate | Logic Gates |
| NOT Gate | Logic Gates |
| Nibble | Theory |
| OR Gate | Logic Gates |
| Octal | Theory |
| Off | See False |
| On | See True |
| One’s Complement | Theory |
| One-Hot | Theory |
| Output | Theory |
| PC | See Program Counter |
| PROM | See Program ROM |
| Pipelining | CPU Components |
| Pipelining Hazard | CPU Components |
| Program Counter | CPU Components |
| Program ROM | CPU Components |
| Pulse Extender | Miscellaneous |
| Pulse Generator | Miscellaneous |
| RAM | See Random Access Memory |
| RAW | See Read After Write Hazard |
| RCA | See Ripple-Carry Adder |
| ROM | See Read Only Memory |
| Random Access Memory | CPU Components |
| Read | Memory Circuits |
| Read After Write Hazard | CPU Components |
| Read Only Memory | Memory Circuits |
| Redcoder | Control Logic |
| Redstone | See Redstone Dust |
| Redstone Comparator | See Comparator |
| Redstone Dust | Redstone |
| Redstone Repeater | See Repeater |
| Redstone Tick | Redstone |
| Redstone Torch | See Torch |
| Register | CPU Components |
| Repeater | Redstone |
| Ripple-Carry Adder | Arithmetic Circuits |
| SR Flip-Flop | Memory Circuits |
| SR Latch | Memory Circuits |
| SS | See Signal Strength |
| Serial Circuit | Theory |
| Signal Strength | Redstone |
| Signed Number | Theory |
| Soft-Powered | Redstone |
| Square Root Extractor | Arithmetic Circuits |
| Subtractor | Arithmetic Circuits |
| T Flip-Flop | Memory Circuits |
| T Latch | Memory Circuits |
| TB | See Terabyte |
| Target Block | Redstone |
| Terabyte | Theory |
| Ternary | Theory |
| Tick | See Redstone Tick // See Game Tick |
| Torch | Redstone |
| True | Theory |
| True Gate | Logic Gates |
| Two’s Complement | Theory |
| Unsigned Binary | See Binary |
| Unsigned Number | See Binary |
| WAR | See Write After Read Hazard |
| WAW | See Write After Write Hazard |
| Write | Memory Circuits |
| Write After Read Hazard | CPU Components |
| Write After Write Hazard | CPU Components |
| XNOR Gate | Logic Gates |
| XOR Gate | Logic Gates |
Descriptions
Redstone
Redstone Dust - A wire with 16 different signal strengths and 2 on/off states which connects various other components. The signal strength of redstone decays by 1 every block further
Redstone Torch - A component which inverts incoming signals
Redstone Repeater - A component which extends a binary signal with delay ranging 1-4 redstone ticks. It can also be locked by a powered repeater/comparator at its side
Comparator - A component which can perform 2 operations: Compare and Subtract. It has 3 inputs, 2 on the sides and 1 on the back, along with its output. If both sides have a signal the the larger of the 2 is used. Compare mode allows the back signal to pass if it is greater than or equal to the side signal. Subtract mode subtracts the side signal from the back signal. Comparators can also read containers and output a signal proportional to the “fullness”
Target Block - A block which redirects redstone towards itself
Signal Strength - A signal 0-15 that some redstone components use rather than just on/off
Soft-Powered - When a block is powered in a way that a repeater can draw a signal from but redstone dust cannot. This can be achieved by having a powered line of redstone dust connected to a block
Hard-Powered - When a block is powered such that both a repeater and redstone dust can draw a signal from it
Redstone Tick - A unit of time equal to 2 game ticks which redstone operates with. It is approximately 1/10th of a second
Game Tick - A unit of time for Minecraft’s game loop. It is approximately 1/20th of a second
Computational Redstone - Redstone circuits in the realm of computer parts
Theory
Binary - A number system where each digit can be either a 0 or 1
Signed Number - A binary number system which dedicates around half of all values to negative values
Ternary - A number system where each digit can be a number from 0 to 2
Octal -A number system where each digit can be a number from 0 to 7
Decimal - A number system where each digit can be a number from 0 to 9 (“normal numbers”)
Hexadecimal - A number system where each digit can be a number from 0 to 15 (0 to F)
One-Hot - A signal where the only valid state is exactly one line being on Wikipedia
Gray Code - A number system where adjacent numbers (+1 / -1) only differ by 1 bit
One’s Complement - I representation of signed numbers where a positive number can be made negative by inverting all bits
Two’s Complement - A representation for signed numbers where a positive value can be made negative by inverting all bits, then adding 1. It allows for addition of negative numbers as a method of subtraction without any additional processing
Binary Coded Decimal - An encoding of decimal digits in binary
True - The on state of a circuit
False - The off state of a circuit
Input - A place signals are sent into a circuit
Output - A place signals are sent out of a circuit
Bit Width - The number of allowed bits in a binary value (a specific value may contain less)
Bit - A single binary digit
Nibble - 4 binary digits
Byte - 8 binary digits
Kilobyte - 1,000 bytes
Megabyte - 1,000 kilobytes
Gigabyte - 1,000 megabytes
Terabyte - 1,000 gigabytes
Edge-Triggered - A circuit which becomes active as a signal changes from one state to another
Level-Triggered - A circuit which becomes active when a signal reaches a predetermined threshold
Combinational Circuit - Signals are sent down separate lines
Serial Circuit - Signals are sent down a single line, separated sequentially
Logic Gates
Logic Gate - The smallest unit of logic. Typically logic gates have 1 or 2 inputs. Gates aren’t a specific design but rather any design which performs the specified logic mattbatwings YT Video
True Gate - A logic gate with a constant on output
False Gate - A logic gate with a constant off output
NOT Gate - A logic gate where the output is on if the input is off and vice versa
OR Gate - A logic gate where the output is on if at least one input is on
NOR Gate - A logic gate where the output is on if both inputs are off
AND Gate - A logic gate where the output is on if both inputs are on
NAND Gate - A logic gate where the output is on if at least one input is off
XOR Gate - A logic gate where the output is on if the inputs are different
XNOR Gate - A logic gate where the output is on if the inputs are the same
IMPLY Gate - A logic gate (A imply B) where the output is off if A is on and B is off
NIMPLY Gate - A logic gate (A imply B) where the output is on if A is on and B is off
Arithmetic Circuits
Adder - A circuit which performs addition, typically in Binary mattbatwings YT Video
Half Adder - A circuit which adds a pair of 1 bit values
Full Adder - A circuit which, if multiple are connected, can add values of any size
Carry In - The bit “carried” from the previous bit, similar to carrying when adding on paper
Carry Out - The bit “carried” from the next bit, similar to carrying when adding on paper
Adder Types
Ripple-Carry Adder - An adder which is made up of Full Adders such that the Carry Out of one Full Adder leads into the Carry In of the next Full Adder. Named for the way carrying has a propagation delay for each Full Adder Wikipedia
Instant Carry Adder - Todo. bennyscube YT Video
Carry-Lookahead Adder - An adder which builds on top of RCA by computing each carry separately, avoiding the propagation delay
Carry Look Everywhere (Adder) - A Minecraft-optimized version of CLA. bennyscube YT Video
Carry Cancel Adder - An adder which uses signal strength and instant diodes to compute all carries at the same time bennyscube YT Video
Carry-Save Adder - Todo.
Subtractor - A circuit which performs subtraction, typically in Binary
Borrow Carry Subtractor - Todo.
Adder-Subtractor - A circuit which can switch between addition and subtraction
Multiplier - A circuit which performs multiplication, typically in Binary
Divider - A circuit which performs division, typically in Binary
Square Root Extractor - A circuit which computes the square root of a number, typically in Binary
Memory Circuits
Read - Loading data from memory
Write - Saving data to memory
Address - A location in memory or a program
Enable - If enable is on, then it allows another signal to pass. (i.e. write enable only allows writing to memory if the enable is on)
Read Only Memory - Memory which cannot be modified, but can be read
Flip Flops
Flip-Flop - An edge-triggered memory circuit
SR Flip Flop - Todo.
D Flip Flop - Todo.
T Flip Flop - Todo.
JK Flip Flop - Todo.
Latches
Latch - A level-triggered memory circuit
SR Latch - Todo.
D Latch - Todo.
T Latch - Todo.
JK Latch - Todo.
Control Logic
Multiplexer - A circuit with inputs, an output, and a selection signal. The selection signal chooses which of the inputs reaches the output
Demultiplexer - A circuit with an input, outputs, and a selection signal. The selection signal chooses which output receives the input.
Encoder - A circuit which turns a one-hot input into a binary output
Decoder - A circuit which turns a binary input into a one-hot output
Redcoder - A circuit which is similar to a decoder, but the input is signal strength
CPU Components
Central Processing Unit - A turing complete circuit which executes the steps outlined in a program
Control Unit - A circuit which decodes the instructions into signals for the various CPU components
Arithmetic Logic Unit - A circuit which can perform various arithmetic and logical operations.
Math Unit - A dedicated circuit which does various math computations (multiplication, division, square root, etc.)
Memory
Register - Memory directly connected to the ALU’s inputs and outputs
Dual Read Register - Registers that allow for 2 to be read at once
Random Access Memory - Memory which can be written to/ read from at arbitrary addresses
Accumulator - A dedicated register which stores the output of the ALU
Cache - Memory which is used to store commonly used data such that when that address is called upon, it can be retrieved from the cache, faster than with RAM
Pipelining - When a CPU handles multiple instructions at once, each in a different part of the instruction process
Pipelining
Branch Predictor - A circuit which estimates whether the program will branch to avoid branch hazards
Pipelining Hazard - A pitfall which is caused by the pipelining of a CPU
Read After Write Hazard - A hazard where two instructions use the same address. A write instruction, but the order is executed in reverse. This means that the read instruction has outdated data that the write instruction was meant to update
Write After Read Hazard - A hazard where two instructions use the same address. A write instruction comes after a read instruction, but the order is executed in reverse. This means that the read instruction has newer data instead of the earlier data it needed
Write After Write Hazard - A hazard where two write instructions, acting on the same address, are executed in the wrong order
Branch Misprediction - When the program chooses to handle a branch differently than what the branch predictor decided
Instruction Set Architecture - The set of instructions that can be used when programming the CPU
Instruction Set
NOOP - An instruction that does nothing
Jump - An instruction which jumps to another instruction
Branch - An instruction which jumps to another instruction if a condition is met
Immediate - A value included explicitly in an instruction
Program ROM - ROM which holds the program
Program Counter - A circuit, including a clock, that keeps track of the current instruction being executed
Clock - A circuit which continuously gives signals that are generally evenly spaced
Miscellaneous
Bus - A connection between two components
Pulse Generator - A circuit which sends a brief signal when activated
Pulse Extender - A circuit which takes in a pulse and outputs a signal that lasts longer
GPU - A circuit similar to a CPU which generally has simpler operations and executes instructions on multiple pieces of data at once