The stored program concept

• What is the definition of a computer that uses the stored program concept?

  A computer that fetches and executes machine code instructions stored in main memory.
• What does "serially" mean in the context of the stored program concept?

  Instructions are fetched and executed in order, one after the other.
• What does "fetching" refer to in the stored program concept?

  Retrieving an instruction from main memory.
• What does "executing" mean in the context of machine code instructions?

  Carrying out what is specified by the fetched instruction.
• What are machine code instructions made of?

  Just 1s and 0s.
• Why can machine code instructions be executed directly by the processor?

  Because they are in a format that the processor can understand without translation.
• What is main memory used for in a computer?

  To store instructions and frequently used data.
• What are examples of main memory?

  RAM and ROM.
• What type of operations does arithmetic involve?

  Mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
• What type of operations does logical involve?

  Operations that use logic gates like AND, OR, and NOT.
• How does the stored program concept differ from early computers designed to execute just one specific program?

  • The stored program concept allows for program instructions to be switched out.
  • It enables modern computers to run numerous different applications.
• What are the two different architectures that computers using the stored program concept can be based on?

  Harvard architecture and von Neumann architecture.
• How does Harvard architecture differ from von Neumann architecture?

  In Harvard architecture, instructions and data are stored in different pieces of memory.
• What is stored together in von Neumann architecture?

  Instructions and data.