L
RAM
-t-
OOM
~~~~Po'"
~
Microprocessor
Meet
the
players
6J
figure
4-1
Main
logic
board
RAM and
ROM
(two
kinds
of
memory
you'll
Jearn
more
about
in
a
moment)
and
the microprocessor arc
lntegralcd
circuits
OCs).
ICs
are miniature elect.rical circuits
etched
into tiny rectangles
of
silicon.
ICs
reside
in
black plastic packages thai look like
mechanical centipedes.
The
centipede's
"legs" are pins that
connect
the circuits to the
traces,
the ele<:t.ronic pathways
through
which the
lCs
communicate with
each
other, Both
the
Ie
and
the
Ie
package are referred to as a chip.
The
microprocessor
is the computer's "brain.·
All
of
the Olher
chips ael to
support
it
and
it, in turn,
supports
their efforlS. The
microprocessor
does
the aewa]
computing
by
executing
the
instructions given it by programs. See Figure 4-2.
RAM
(for
random-access
memory,
also
known
as temporary,
main,
or
working memory) is the
memory
that holds,
among
other
things, the progl'3m you're running
and
the things you create with
the program.
RAM
is volatile; that
is,
when
you turn
the
power
off,
all information in
RAM disappears.
Figure
4-2
The
microprocessor
.~
•
•
I
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