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| Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, May 12 2013 @ 08:49 AM EDT |
Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. You have abstracted
to far
from the reality of what a computer is, at its very
essence.
your most
basic error is in distinguishing between what a
user inputs, and a computer
program that is run on the
computer. But a computer program, at its core is
nothing
more than a set of instructions, "data" that has been
entered by a user.
And broken down further that "data" in
its simplest form, is nothing more than a
chain of integers.
I don't distinguish between user inputs and
integers (data), their is merely a step in their translating the user input
(whether in form of keyboard strokes, punchcards, or something else) into
integers that you ignore, to quote my original
and user
input to lists of integers to be interpreted as
functions to be executed
(programs), user input to integers (all sort of
constants in programs, user
input fields, ect)
Perhaps this would be better
worded as "user inputs to integers (data), and some of those integers to
functions (executing a program). But my original gets the point across in my
opinion.
These integers, stored in a sequence of memory
locations,
read sequentially and acted upon by a hard-coded and
extremely simple
set of instructions that repeat over and
over for each integer
stored,
Yes, this is effectively what I said with more detail, to
quote the relevant parts of my original
It maps integers
to functions [...], and user input to lists of integers to be interpreted
as
functions to be executed
Please note I am using
'functions' as instructions because of the post I was replying to, not because
they are the most accurate way to say it. Not that they are innacurate either, I
do believe that instructions all technically count as
functions...
comprise both program and
data, and to the computer,
are indistinguishable from each
other.
Please note in the original
I never interpeted anything to programs, I interpreted it into integers (the
word I use for data because of the post I was responding to) which I then
further interpreted as a program later.
A computer doesn't run
programs. It receives data in
integer form, processes it in integer form and
outputs it in
integer form. EVERYTHING else is
interpretation.
Tailgunner30uk
I'm sorry but this is simply
wrong. A computer does run programs, it sets an instruction pointer to integer A
which points to a peice of memorty (which is now declared the start of the
program), and executes the program according to a set of functions mapped to the
integers in that area of memory. Operating systems make this slightly more
complicated but they still effectively do the same thing.
The only line
after re-reading I think is wrong is this one
and even
lets functions modify
the user inputted list of integers to be executed (OS's,
self modifying programs's)
And that is not because the
line is incorrect but because it is mostly redundant.
It should be
noted my post was not supposed to be a fully complete description of everything
computers do, it was intended to show how they do more then map integers to
integers.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: mvs_tomm on Monday, May 13 2013 @ 12:17 PM EDT |
A computer doesn't run programs.
I don't know what you
mean by this statement. The processing unit in a computer fetches an
instruction from memory and executes it. It increments the instruction address
and fetches the next instruction address. Some instructions will, under certain
conditions, alter the instruction address, resulting in a branch to a different
location in the program.
It receives data in
integer form,
processes it in integer form and outputs it in
integer form.
Not
everything in a computer is in integer form. Floating-point numbers, for
example, are not in integer form, and it is an aberration to think of them as if
they are.
EVERYTHING else is interpretation.
Sorry,
but this is incorrect. A floating-point number in a computer can be interpreted
as a binary number, but that is not an accurate interpretation.
Tom Marchant [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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