Computer ScienceExam code: 0984
Computer Architecture
Hardware
The carries out every arithmetic operation and every logical comparison required by the program.
Arithmetic operations include:
- Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
- Increment (add 1), decrement (subtract 1)
Logical operations include:
- Comparisons such as "is X greater than 5?", "is A equal to B?"
- Bitwise operations such as AND, OR, NOT
A modern ALU can perform billions of these basic operations per second, and the result of each one is usually stored in the register (covered in section 5).