computer

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computer A device or system that is capable of carrying out a sequence of operations in a distinctly and explicitly defined manner. The operations are frequently numerical computations or data manipulations but also include input/output; the operations within the sequence may depend on particular data values. The definition of the sequence is called the program. A computer can have either a stored program or wired program. A stored program may exist in an alterable (read-write or RAM) memory or in a nonalterable (ROM) memory. See also digital computer, analog computer, von Neumann machine.

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