Computer architecture

Abstract

Computer architecture is the science of designing computers from lower-level components. A computer is an information-processing machine with a structure that is independent of the application in which it is used. A computer can process any information in any way possible, provided it is suitably programmed and its memory is large enough. However, as modern computers can only process binary information, both data and programmes have to be coded in this form. All computers - ranging from the control unit of a vending machine to the world's largest supercomputer - are based on the same principle. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.