= Computer
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A <computer> is a physical system that represents information and carries out defined operations on it. In a stored-program design, instructions and data are held in <computer memory>, and a processor interprets instructions to update state. A simple program can read two represented numbers, add them and store the result; the represented bit patterns acquire meaning through the chosen encoding. Digital <computers> use discrete states, while analogue <computers> represent quantities through continuously varying physical variables. A mathematical <model of computation> abstracts these mechanisms to study capability and resource use.
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