Editing Stored-program computer (section)

{{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>