INSTRUCTIONS

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Every computer program is made up of instructions and data. The instructions tell the computer what to do, and the data might be text, number, image or sound that the instructions apply to.

   • Examples
     • ADD 60. If this were in a program, a number might need to be added to a running total. 'ADD' is the instruction – this is what the computer must do. '60' is the data – this is the number that must, in this case, be added to the running total.
     • DELETE picture.bmp. Here, 'DELETE' is the instruction, and the data, 'picture.bmp' is the name of the file that must be deleted.
     • Distinguishing
       • As both instructions and data will consist of a sequence of 0s and 1s, the computer needs a way to distinguish between them. Each instruction and each piece of data is stored in a specific location on the disk with a specific memory address. The operating system keeps track of which memory addresses contain instructions and which contain data.