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A '''Central Processing Unit''' (CPU) is the main control mechanism of a [[computer]], containing instruction controls, registers, and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) as well as a memory interface.  Some CPUs implement additional functionality, but often other capabilities are provided through peripheral processors that handle such things as input/output (I/O), floating-point [[arithmetic]], and [[vector]] processing. All computers contain at least one CPU, but some contemporary computers contain over 1,000.

A '''Central Processing Unit''' (CPU) is the main control mechanism of a [[computer]], containing control logic, registers, and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) as well as a memory interface.  Some CPUs implement additional functionality, but often other capabilities are provided through peripheral processors that handle such things as input/output (I/O), floating-point [[arithmetic]], and [[vector]] processing. All computers contain at least one CPU, but some contemporary computers contain over 1,000.

The purpose of a CPU is to execute programs.  Programs are a series of numeric values, where each value indicates a specific operation.  Each value is referred to as an '''instruction''', and has a corresponding mnemonic for programming convenience. These values are known as [[machine code]]. All of the instructions that can be executed by a CPU are collectively known as the CPU's '''instruction set'''. Different CPU models usually implement completely different instruction sets, so that programs written for one CPU will not execute on a different one. Writing programs in machine code is difficult, so programs called '''assemblers''' were written to translate mnemonics into machine code, thus increasing the speed of writing, and the reliability of, programs. Since the 1960s, most programs have been written using a [[Programming Language]], which are even easier to use than an assembler.

The purpose of a CPU is to execute programs.  Programs are a series of numeric values, where each value indicates a specific operation.  Each value is referred to as an '''instruction''', and has a corresponding mnemonic for programming convenience. These values are known as [[machine code]]. All of the instructions that can be executed by a CPU are collectively known as the CPU's '''instruction set'''. Different CPU models usually implement completely different instruction sets, so that programs written for one CPU will not execute on a different one. Writing programs in machine code is difficult, so programs called '''assemblers''' were written to translate mnemonics into machine code, thus increasing the speed of writing, and the reliability of, programs. Since the 1960s, most programs have been written using a [[Programming Language]], which are even easier to use than an assembler.