What is the process of giving the computer instruction and data?

Answer 1

The processor (sometimes called the Central Processing Unit or CPU) is a piece of circuitry that is able to execute instructions. The instructions are given to the CPU in the form of electrical signals applied to the pins (wires) that lead to the inside of the processor. Generally, a positive electrical voltage represents the binary digit 1, and zero or perhaps negative voltage represents a 0. If we have lots of pins, we can specify a large variety of different patterns of 1's and 0's, each corresponding to a different instruction. (Data is also represented this way) So, in theory, you could buy a bunch of simple switches and hook them up to the processor, and specify instructions by hand. In practice, this would be silly, but this is essentially-how programming was done back in the 1950s with the first digital computers.

In a modern computer, the instructions are actually stored in memory (RAM) before being given to the processor. Usually, the get into the memory only after being read from your hard disk, which also stores patterns of 0's and 1's using magnetism. When you click on an application, you are reading the instructions from your hard disk into memory, from where the processor is able to access it and begin execution.

Lastly, your computer has a little bit of permanent or semi-permanent memory that contains special instructions for starting up when you turn it on and some other special situations. BIOS is an example of that.

Peripherals like sound cards and video cards are generally told what to do by the CPU, and don't give the CPU instructions.

Got that off a website...Yahoo answers XD... NOT MY WORDS!!! I do not take credit for it. Anyways i think its the processor...