Classification of Instruction Sets
A complex instruction set computer (CISC) has many specialized instructions, which may only be rarely used in practical programs. A reduced instruction set computer (RISC) simplifies the processor by only implementing instructions that are frequently used in programs; unusual operations are implemented as subroutines, where the extra processor execution time is offset by their rare use. Theoretically important types are the minimal instruction set computer and the one instruction set computer but these are not implemented in commercial processors. Another variation is the very long instruction word (VLIW) where the processor receives many instructions encoded and retrieved in one instruction word.
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Famous quotes containing the words instruction and/or sets:
“I turn my gaze
Back to the instruction manual which has made me dream of
Guadalajara.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Analysis as an instrument of enlightenment and civilization is good, in so far as it shatters absurd convictions, acts as a solvent upon natural prejudices, and undermines authority; good, in other words, in that it sets free, refines, humanizes, makes slaves ripe for freedom. But it is bad, very bad, in so far as it stands in the way of action, cannot shape the vital forces, maims life at its roots. Analysis can be a very unappetizing affair, as much so as death.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)