Machine codeIn computing, machine code is dataencoded and structured to control a computer's central processing unit (CPU) via its programmable interface. A computer program consists primarily of sequences of machine-code instructions. Machine code is classified as native with respect to its host CPU since it is the language that the CPU interprets directly.
Macro (computer science)In computer programming, a macro (short for "macro instruction"; from Greekμακρο-'long, large') is a rule or pattern that specifies how a certain input should be mapped to a replacement output. Applying a macro to an input is known as macro expansion. The input and output may be a sequence of lexical tokens or characters, or a syntax tree. Character macros are supported in software applications to make it easy to invoke common command sequences.
Instruction set architectureAn instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model that defines the programmable interface of the CPU of a computer, defining how software interacts with hardware. A device (i.e. CPU) that interprets instructions described by an ISA is an implementation of that ISA. Generally, the same ISA is used for a family of related CPU devices.
Computer architectureIn computer science and computer engineering, a computer architecture is the conceptual design and operational structure of a computer system that define how component parts are organized and interact to execute programs efficiently. It is often a general description that ignores precise implementation details. It covers the instruction set architecture, CPU microarchitecture, memory, and input/output systems.
Processor registerA processor register is a quickly accessible storage location available to a computer's processor. Registers usually consist of a small amount of fast storage, although some registers have specific hardware functions, and may be read-only or write-only. In computer architecture, registers are typically addressed by mechanisms other than main memory, but may in some cases be assigned a memory address e.g. the DECPDP-6/PDP-10 and the ICT 1900.Low-level programming languageA low-level programming language is a programming language that provides little or no abstraction from a computer's instruction set architecture, memory or underlying physical hardware; commands or functions in the language are structurally similar to a processor's instructions. These languages provide the programmer with full control over program memory and the underlying machine code instructions.Label (computer science)In programming languages, a label is a sequence of characters that identifies a location within source code. In most languages, labels take the form of an identifier, often followed by a punctuation character (e.g., a colon). In many high-level languages, the purpose of a label is to act as the destination of a GOTO statement. In assembly language, labels can be used anywhere an address can (for example, as the operand of a JMP or MOV instruction).
Directive (programming)In computer programming, a directive or pragma (from "pragmatic") is a language construct that specifies how a compiler (or other translator) should process its input. Depending on the programming language, directives may or may not be part of the grammar of the language and may vary from compiler to compiler. They can be processed by a preprocessor to specify compiler behavior, or function as a form of in-band parameterization.
Comment (computer programming)In computer programming, a comment is text embedded in source code that a translator (compiler or interpreter) ignores. Generally, a comment is an annotation intended to make the code easier for a programmer to understand – often explaining an aspect that is not readily apparent in the program (non-comment) code. For this article, comment refers to the same concept in a programming language, markup language, configuration file and any similar context.
Andrew Donald BoothAndrew Donald Booth (11 February 1918 – 29 November 2009) was a British electrical engineer, physicist and computer scientist who was an early developer of the magnetic drum memory for computers. He is known for Booth's multiplication algorithm. In his later career in Canada he became president of Lakehead University. Early lifeAndrew Donald Booth was born on February 11, 1918, in East Molesy, Surrey, UK.
Statement (computer science)In computer programming, a statement is a syntactic unit of an imperative programming language that expresses some action to be carried out. A program written in such a language is formed by a sequence of one or more statements. A statement may have internal components (e.g. expressions). Many programming languages (e.g. Ada, Algol 60, C, Java, Pascal) make a distinction between statements and definitions/declarations.Memory addressIn computing, a memory address is a reference to a specific memory location in memory used by both software and hardware. These addresses are fixed-length sequences of digits, typically displayed and handled as unsignedintegers. This numerical representation is based on the features of CPU (such as the instruction pointer and incremental address registers). Programming language constructs often treat the memory like an array.
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