Computer systems are a combination of both hardware and software working together. Hardware is the physical components of a computer and software is the programs that run on a computer.
memoryThe part of a computer that stores data. is the component of the computer that holds dataUnits of information. In computing there can be different data types, including integers, characters and Boolean. Data is often acted on by instructions. and programSequences of instructions for a computer. that are currently in use.
Main memory is built inside the computer. As a result, data can be read from and written to main memory extremely quickly. This gives the CPU/processorCentral processing unit - the brain of the computer that processes program instructions. fast access to the data and instructionA single action that can be performed by a computer processor. that the main memory holds.
There are two types of main memory:
read-only memory (ROM)
RAMRandom access memory. This is volatile memory that is constantly being written to and read from. It does not retain its contents without a constant supply of power. When a computer is turned off, everything stored in its RAM is lost.