What is a computer?

A ``computer'' is a machine that computes. What is computing? In the context of this class, to compute is to perform the following:

• logical operation
• mathematical operation

Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it. Well, it is very simple. In fact, the type of mathematical operations that a computer natively knows is very limited:

• add
• subtract
• multiply
• compare
• and some boolean (explained later) operatons

The logical operations that a computer perform are also very simple:

• go do something if the last comparison yielded greater-than
• go do something if the last comparison yielded less-than
• go do something ...

We'll look into what a computer can do a little bit later.