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A programmable machine. The two principal characteristics of a computer
are:
Modern computers are electronic and digital. The
actual machinery -- wires, transistors,
and circuits -- is called hardware;
the instructions and data are called
software.
All general-purpose computers require the following hardware components:
In addition to these components, many others make it possible for the
basic components to work together efficiently. For example, every computer
requires a bus
that transmits data from one part of the computer to another.
Computers can be generally classified by size and power as follows, though
there is considerable overlap:
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