Stored-program computer: Difference between revisions

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{{see also|Universal Turing machine#Stored-program computer}}

{{short description|Computer that stores program instructions in electronically or optically accessible memory}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}

A '''stored-program computer''' is a [[computer]] that stores [[Instruction (computer science)|program instructions]] in electronically, electromagnetically, or optically accessible memory.<ref>{{Citation | last = Allison | first = Joanne | title = Stored-program Computers | year = 1997 | url = http://www.computer50.org/mark1/stored.html | access-date = 24 August 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110927012816/http://www.computer50.org/mark1/stored.html | archive-date = 27 September 2011}}</ref> This contrasts with systems that stored the program instructions with [[plugboard]]s or similar mechanisms.

The definition is often extended with the requirement that the treatment of programs and data in memory be interchangeable or uniform.<ref name="GilreathLaplante2003">{{cite book|author1=William F. Gilreath|author2=Phillip A. Laplante|title=Computer Architecture: A Minimalist Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9DuC35atMu0C&pg=RA1-PA24|year=2003|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4020-7416-5|page=24}}</ref><ref name="Reilly2003">{{cite book|author=Edwin D. Reilly|title=Milestones in computer science and information technology|url=https://archive.org/details/milestonesincomp0000reil|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-57356-521-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/milestonesincomp0000reil/page/245 245]}}</ref><ref name="POCA">{{cite book|first=Miles J.|last=Murdocca|author2=Vincent P. Heuring |year=2000|title=Principles of Computer Architecture|publisher=Prentice-Hall|isbn=0-201-43664-7|pages=5}}</ref>

== Description ==

In principle, stored-program computers have been designed with various architectural characteristics. A computer with a [[von Neumann architecture]] stores program data and instruction data in the same memory, while a computer with a [[Harvard architecture]] has separate memories for storing program and data.<ref name="Page2009">{{cite book|author=Daniel Page|title=A Practical Introduction to Computer Architecture|year=2009|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-84882-255-9|page=148}}</ref><ref name="Balch2003">{{cite book|author=Mark Balch|title=Complete digital design: a comprehensive guide to digital electronics and computer system architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFSRT-OIxyoC&pg=PA149|access-date=18 May 2011|year=2003|publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional|isbn=978-0-07-140927-8|page=149}}</ref> However, the term ''stored-program computer'' is sometimes used as a synonym for the von Neumann architecture.<ref name="Page2009b">{{cite book|author=Daniel Page|title=A Practical Introduction to Computer Architecture|year=2009|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-84882-255-9|page=153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X1m1tNcfWQYC&pg=PA153}}</ref><ref name="Grattan-Guinness2003">{{cite book|author=Ivor Grattan-Guinness|author-link=Ivor Grattan-Guinness|title=Companion encyclopedia of the history and philosophy of the mathematical sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hDvzITtfdAC&pg=PA705|year=2003|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-7396-6|page=705}}</ref> [[Jack Copeland]] considers that it is "historically inappropriate, to refer to electronic stored-program digital computers as 'von Neumann machines{{'"}}.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Copeland | first = Jack | author-link = Jack Copeland | title = A Brief History of Computing |at = ENIAC and EDVAC | year = 2000 | url = https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computing-history/#ENIAC | access-date = 27 January 2010 }}</ref> Hennessy and Patterson wrote that the early Harvard machines were regarded as "reactionary by the advocates of stored-program computers".<ref name="HennessyPatterson2003">{{cite book|author1=John L. Hennessy|author-link=John L. Hennessy|author2=David A. Patterson|author2-link=David Patterson (scientist)|author3=David Goldberg|title=Computer architecture: a quantitative approach|url=https://archive.org/details/computerarchitec0003henn|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Morgan Kaufmann|isbn=978-1-55860-724-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/computerarchitec0003henn/page/68 68]}}</ref>

== History ==