Principlesof computer organization>
Computerhardware> We build computers to solve problems. Early computers solvedmathematical and engineering problems, and later computers emphasizedinformation processing for business applications. Today, computers also controlmachines as diverse as automobile engines, robots, and microwave ovens. Acomputer system solves a problem from any of these domains by accepting input,processing it, and producing output.
Computersystems consist of hardware and software. Hardware is the physical part of thesystem. Once designed, hardware is difficult and expensive to change. Softwareis the set of programs that instruct the hardware and is easier to modify thanhardware. Computers are valuable because they are general-purpose machines thatcan solve many different kinds of problems, as opposed to special-purposemachines that can each solve only one kind of problems. Different problems canbe solved with