Stored - program computer - wikipedia Stored - program computer See also : Universal Turing machine : Stored - program computer A stored - program computer is a computer that stores program instructions in electronic memory. This contrasts with machines where the program instructions are stored on plugboards or similar mechanisms. Often the definition is extended with the requirement that the treatment of programs and data in memory be interchangeable or uniform. Contents 1 Description 2 History 2.1 Candidates for the first stored - program computer 3 See also 4 References Description A computer with a von Neumann architecture stores program data and instruction data in the same memory ; a computer with a Harvard architecture has separate memories for storing program and data. Both are stored - program designs. Stored - program computer is sometimes used as a synonym for von Neumann architecture, however Professor Jack Copeland considers that it is `` historically inappropriate, to refer to electronic stored - program digital computers as ' von Neumann machines ' ''. Hennessy and Patterson write that the early Harvard machines were regarded as `` reactionary by the advocates of stored - program computers ''. History The stored - program computer idea can be traced back to the 1936 theoretical concept of a universal Turing machine. Von Neumann was aware of this paper, and he impressed it on his collaborators as well. Many early computers, such as the Atanasoff -- Berry computer, were not reprogrammable. They executed a single hardwired program. As there were no program instructions, no program storage was necessary. Other computers, though programmable, stored their programs on punched tape, which was physically fed into the machine as needed. In 1936 Konrad Zuse anticipated in two patent applications that machine instructions could be stored in the same storage used for data. The University of Manchester 's Manchester Small - Scale Experimental Machine ( SSEM ) is generally recognized as world 's first electronic computer that ran a stored program -- an event that occurred on 21 June 1948. However the SSEM was not regarded as a full - fledged computer, but more a proof of concept predecessor to the Manchester Mark 1 computer, which was first put to research work in April 1949. On 6 May 1949 the EDSAC in Cambridge ran its first program, making it arguably `` the first complete and fully operational regular electronic digital stored - program computer ''. It is sometimes claimed that the IBM SSEC, operational in January 1948, was the first stored - program computer ; this claim is controversial, not least because of the hierarchical memory system of the SSEC, and because some aspects of its operations, like access to relays or tape drives, were determined by plugging. The first stored - program computer to be built in continental Europe was the MESM, completed in the Soviet Union in 1951. Candidates for the first stored - program computer Several computers could be considered the first stored - program computer, depending on the criteria. IBM SSEC, became operational in January 1948 but was electromechanical ARC2, developed by Andrew Booth and Kathleen Booth at Birkbeck, University of London, officially came online on May 12, 1948. It featured the first rotating drum storage device. Manchester Small - Scale Experimental Machine, an experimental computer that successfully ran a stored program on June 21, 1948. It was subsequently developed into the Manchester Mark 1, which ran its first program in early April 1949. Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator, EDSAC, which became fully operational providing a service to a range of customers on May 6, 1949. EDVAC, conceived in 1945 but not delivered until August 1949. BINAC, delivered to a customer on August 22, 1949. It worked at the factory but there is disagreement about whether or not it worked satisfactorily after being delivered. If it had been finished at the projected time, it would have been the first stored - program computer in the world. It was the first stored - program computer in the U.S. ETL Mark III, which began development in 1954 and was completed in 1956, was the first stored - program transistor computer. It was created by Japan 's Electrotechnical Laboratory. See also Stored program control References Jump up ^ Allison, Joanne ( 1997 ), Stored - program Computers, archived from the original on 27 September 2011, retrieved 24 August 2011 Jump up ^ William F. Gilreath ; Phillip A. Laplante ( 2003 ). Computer Architecture : A Minimalist Perspective. Springer. p. 24. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4020 - 7416 - 5. Jump up ^ Edwin D. Reilly ( 2003 ). Milestones in computer science and information technology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 245. ISBN 978 - 1 - 57356 - 521 - 9. Jump up ^ Murdocca, Miles J. ; Vincent P. Heuring ( 2000 ). Principles of Computer Architecture. Prentice - Hall. p. 5. ISBN 0 - 201 - 43664 - 7. Jump up ^ Daniel Page ( 2009 ). A Practical Introduction to Computer Architecture. Springer. p. 148. ISBN 978 - 1 - 84882 - 255 - 9. Jump up ^ Mark Balch ( 2003 ). Complete digital design : a comprehensive guide to digital electronics and computer system architecture. McGraw - Hill Professional. p. 149. ISBN 978 - 0 - 07 - 140927 - 8. Retrieved 18 May 2011. Jump up ^ Daniel Page ( 2009 ). A Practical Introduction to Computer Architecture. Springer. p. 153. ISBN 978 - 1 - 84882 - 255 - 9. Jump up ^ Ivor Grattan - Guinness ( 2003 ). Companion encyclopedia of the history and philosophy of the mathematical sciences. JHU Press. p. 705. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8018 - 7396 - 6. Jump up ^ Copeland, Jack ( 2000 ), A Brief History of Computing : ENIAC and EDVAC, retrieved 27 January 2010 Jump up ^ John L. Hennessy ; David A. Patterson ; David Goldberg ( 2003 ). Computer architecture : a quantitative approach. Morgan Kaufmann. p. 68. ISBN 978 - 1 - 55860 - 724 - 8. Jump up ^ B. Jack Copeland ( 2006 ). Colossus : the secrets of Bletchley Park 's codebreaking computers. Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 284055 - 4. Jump up ^ Christof Teuscher ( 2004 ). Alan Turing : life and legacy of a great thinker. Springer. p. 321 -- 322. ISBN 978 - 3 - 540 - 20020 - 8. Jump up ^ Williams, F. C ; Kilburn, T ( 25 September 1948 ), `` Electronic Digital Computers '', Nature, 162 ( 4117 ) : 487, doi : 10.1038 / 162487a0, archived from the original on 6 April 2009, retrieved 10 April 2009 Jump up ^ Susanne Faber, `` Konrad Zuses Bemuehungen um die Patentanmeldung der Z3 '', 2000 Jump up ^ Williams, Frederic ; Kilburn, Tom ( 1948 ). `` Electronic Digital Computers ''. Nature. 162 ( 4117 ) : 487. doi : 10.1038 / 162487a0. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Jump up ^ Rául Rojas ; Ulf Hashagen ( 2002 ). The first computers : history and architectures. MIT Press. p. 379. ISBN 978 - 0 - 262 - 68137 - 7. Jump up ^ Daniel Page ( 2009 ). A Practical Introduction to Computer Architecture. Springer. p. 158. ISBN 978 - 1 - 84882 - 255 - 9. Jump up ^ Mike Hally ( 2005 ). Electronic brains : stories from the dawn of the computer age. National Academies Press. p. 96. ISBN 978 - 0 - 309 - 09630 - 0. Jump up ^ Emerson W. Pugh ( 1995 ). Building IBM : shaping an industry and its technology. MIT Press. p. 136. ISBN 978 - 0 - 262 - 16147 - 3. Jump up ^ Olley, A. ( 2010 ). `` Existence Precedes Essence - Meaning of the Stored - Program Concept '' ( PDF ). History of Computing. Learning from the Past. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. 325 : 169. doi : 10.1007 / 978 - 3 - 642 - 15199 - 6_17. ISBN 978 - 3 - 642 - 15198 - 9. Jump up ^ Graham, Loren R. ( 1993 ). Science in Russia and the Soviet Union : A Short History. Cambridge University Press. p. 256. Jump up ^ Edwin D. Reilly ( 2003 ). Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology, p. 245. Jump up ^ Emerson W. Pugh ; Lyle R. Johnson ; John H. Palmer ( 1991 ). IBM 's 360 and Early 370 Systems. MIT Press. p. 15. ISBN 978 - 0 - 262 - 51720 - 1. Jump up ^ Campbell - Kelly, Martin ( April 1982 ). `` The Development of Computer Programming in Britain ( 1945 to 1955 ) ''. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 4 ( 2 ) : 121 -- 139. doi : 10.1109 / MAHC. 1982.10016. Jump up ^ Lavington, Simon, ed. ( 2012 ). Alan Turing and his Contemporaries : Building the World 's First Computers. London : British Computer Society. p. 61. ISBN 9781906124908. Jump up ^ Johnson, Roger ( April 2008 ). `` School of Computer Science & Information Systems : A Short History '' ( PDF ). Birkbeck College. University of London. Retrieved 23 July 2017. Jump up ^ Hally, Mike. Electronic Brains, 2005, pp. 40 - 41. Jump up ^ Martin Fransman ( 1993 ), The Market and Beyond : Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology, page 19, Cambridge University Press Jump up ^ Early Computers, Information Processing Society of Japan Jump up ^ ( Electrotechnical Laboratory ) ETL Mark III Transistor - Based Computer, Information Processing Society of Japan Jump up ^ Early Computers : Brief History, Information Processing Society of Japan Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stored-program_computer&oldid=837235742 '' Categories : Classes of computers School of Computer Science, University of Manchester Discovery and invention controversies Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from May 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Català Čeština Español Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Nederlands 日本 語 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 19 April 2018, at 15 : 20. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what is meant by the stored program concept
Answer: a computer that stores program instructions in electronic memory