I know some examples are x96, x64 and arm. Are they abstract models of computation, like Turing machines?
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The main processor on a computer works by putting numbers into memory called registers. Some will be data, and one will be a number that is a code for what the processor should do. 1 might be ‘Add A and B and save the result in C’, and two might be ‘Check if A and B are the same and save the result in C’.
The instruction set is the list of numerical codes and what they do. The same codes used by two different processors means that they can process the same instructions in computer programs.
The instruction set architecture goes one more step and describes things like optional processor features and how to check of the processor has them, and other details about sending instructions to the processor.
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