Processor - CPU
The central processing unit -- CPU -- is where processing takes place.
- CPU consists of electronic circuits that interpret and execute program instructions, as well as communicate with the input, output, and storage devices.
- CPU is the central processing unit that actually transforms data into information.
- Data is the raw material such as letters, numbers, or facts like grades in a class, sport statistics, or light and dark areas in a photograph to be processed by a computer.
- Processed data becomes information, that is organized, meaningful, and often useful.
- An instructor, for example, enters various student grades (data), to be processed to produce final grades, a class average, etc. (information).