A Central Processing Unit (CPU), or sometimes just processor,
is a description of a certain class of logic machines that can execute computer programs.
This broad definition can easily be applied to many early computers that existed long before
the term "CPU" ever came into widespread usage. However, the term itself and its initialism
have been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s.
The form, design and implementation of CPUs have changed dramatically since the
earliest examples, but their fundamental operation has remained much the same.
Early CPUs were custom-designed as a part of a larger, usually one-of-a-kind, computer.
However, this costly method of designing custom CPUs for a particular application
has largely given way to the development of mass-produced processors that are suited
for one or many purposes. This standardization trend generally began in the era
of discrete transistor mainframes and minicomputers and has rapidly accelerated
with the popularization of the integrated circuit (IC). The IC has allowed increasingly
complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured in very small spaces (on the order of millimeters).
Both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have increased the presence of these digital
devices in modern life far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines.
Modern microprocessors appear in everything from automobiles to cell phones to children's toys.
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