Step 220–25 minutes
CPU Basics
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the "brain" of the computer. Its job is to fetch instructions from memory and carry them out.
Inside the CPU, three main components work together to make this happen:
Inside the CPU
Control Unit (CU)
The "Manager". It decodes instructions and coordinates how data moves around the computer.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
The "Calculator". It performs all the math (addition, subtraction) and logic (AND, OR, NOT).
Registers
The "Scratchpad". Tiny, ultra-fast storage locations inside the CPU for immediate data.
Program Counter
Instruction Register
Accumulator
General Purpose
Registers You Should Know
Program Counter (PC)
Stores the memory address of the next instruction to be executed.
Instruction Register (IR)
Stores the current instruction being processed.