What is Computer architecture?
In [[computer engineering]], '''computer architecture''' is the conceptual design and fundamental operational structure of a [[computer]] system. It is the technical drawings and functional description of all design requirements (especially speeds and interconnections), it is how to design and implement various parts of a computer — focusing largely on the way by which the [[central processing unit]] (CPU) operates internally and how it accesses [[RAM|addresses in memory]]. It can be defined as the [[science]] and [[art]] of selecting and interconnecting [[Computer hardware|hardware]] components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals. <!-- See page 10 of Hennessy & Patterson (cited below)... --> Computer architecture includes at least three main subcategories:<ref>{{cite book|author=John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson|title=Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach|url=https://archive.org/details/computerarchitec00hennrich|edition=Third|publisher=Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc|date=2003|isbn=1558605967}}</ref> # '''[[Instruction set|Instruction set architecture]]''', or ISA, is the abstract model of a computing system that is seen by a [[machine language]] (or [[assembly language]]) programmer, including the [[instruction set]], [[addressing mode|memory address modes]], [[processor register]]s, and address and data formats. # '''[[Microarchitecture]]''', also known as '''Computer organization''' is a lower level, a detailed description of the system that is sufficient for completely describing the operation of all parts of the [[computer|computing system]], and how they are inter-connected and inter-operate in order to implement the ISA.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering, and Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcomp0000unse_g1p1|author=Phillip A. Laplante|date=2001|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=0849326915|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcomp0000unse_g1p1/page/n113 94]–95}}</ref> The size of a computer's [[cache