Register
Revision as of 20:35, 15 December 2013 by Chris Tyler (talk | contribs) (Created page with 'Category:Computer Architecture{{Chris Tyler Draft}}A register is a high-speed memory location within a CPU. Various types of registers are used in combination in various com…')
This is a draft only!
It is still under construction and content may change. Do not rely on this information.
It is still under construction and content may change. Do not rely on this information.
Various types of registers are used in combination in various computer architectures:
- General-purpose registers are used to temporarily store values.
- Accumulators hold the results of mathematical operations (originally add/subtracts, but now any numerical operation).
- Status registers (or Flag registers, or Condition code registers) contain flag bits, which are set/cleared/tested either explicitly (by instructions) or implicitly (as the result of other operations). For example, the ARM aarch32 "Z" flag is set ("1") if an operation has a non-zero result, and cleared ("0") if an operation has a non-zero result. This flag is one bit within the Application Processor Status Register (APSR).
- Control registers alter the operation of the processor, such as by enabling binary coded decimal (BCD) math or toggling little-endian/big-endian mode.