How LLMs Work, Part 1: How LLMs Process Text

I am a software developer who has been using LLMs extensively at work. I wanted to develop a foundational understanding of LLMs, but have no background in machine learning or statistics. So, I started to read and take notes with the goal to eventually write up a developer's guide to the foundations of LLMs. The article kept growing, so I have split it into four parts. This is the first in the series. Hope this helps! submitted b