Stored program control

Imagine you are playing with building blocks, and you have a special set of instructions that tells you how to build a specific toy. These instructions might say things like "stack the blue block on top of the red block" or "put the yellow block next to the green block."

Now, let's take this idea and apply it to computers. Computers are machines that can do lots of different tasks, like playing games, browsing the internet, or solving math problems. But how do they know what to do? That's where stored program control comes in.

Stored program control is like having a set of special instructions for a computer. These instructions are written in a language that computers can understand, just like the instructions for building a toy were written in a language that you can understand.

But instead of building toys, these instructions tell the computer what tasks to perform. The instructions are stored in a special place in the computer's memory, just like you might keep your toy instructions in a box.

When you turn on a computer, it looks at these stored instructions and starts following them step by step. Imagine if you had a teacher helping you build the toy, and they told you each step to do next. The computer's processor is like that teacher, except it follows the instructions automatically without needing to be reminded.

Each instruction tells the computer to do a specific action, like adding two numbers together or showing a picture on the screen. The computer can read these instructions one by one, just like you read the steps in your toy instructions.

Stored program control is really useful because it allows computers to do many different tasks, depending on the instructions given. Just like you can use different sets of instructions to build different toys, computers can change the set of instructions they follow to do different tasks.

This flexibility makes computers very powerful. They can be used for all kinds of jobs, from playing games to analyzing data. And because the instructions are stored in the computer's memory, they can be easily changed or updated.

So, stored program control is like a set of special instructions that tell the computer what to do. Just like you follow instructions to build a toy, the computer follows instructions to perform different tasks. And because the instructions are stored in the computer's memory, it can do all sorts of different tasks depending on the instructions it's given.