Computer program

A computer program or software program (usually abbreviated to "a program") is a step-by-step list of instructions written for a particular computer architecture in a particular computer programming language. A layman equivalent example would be writing a step-by-step list of instructions in English instructing a human how to make a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the human being the specific architecture). More often than not, computer programs are compiled or assembled into non-human readable format. Executable uncompiled programs are referred to as scripts.

Program Execution

A modern day computer program is loaded into memory (usually by the operating system), interpreted and then executed ("run") instruction by instruction until "program termination", either with success or through computer error. Some primitive types of computers ran instructions encoded in various ways, an example would be punch cards.

Related Topics:
Operating system - Termination - Punch cards

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Before a computer can execute any sort of program (including the operating system which is also a program) the computer hardware must be initialized. This is done by a piece of software stored on programmable memory chips installed by the manufacturer called the BIOS. The BIOS will attempt to initialize the boot sequence making the computer ready for miscellaneous program execution.

Related Topics:
Computer hardware - Programmable memory - BIOS - Boot sequence

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