computing machine
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: A device, typically electronic, designed to automatically execute sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (calculations). This term broadly refers to a programmable machine that can process, store, and retrieve data.
Usage
The term "computing machine" is a formal and somewhat historical term for what is now most commonly called a "computer." It emphasizes the machine's core function of performing automated computation.
Examples
- Early computing machines, like the Analytical Engine, were mechanical.
- The development of the electronic computing machine revolutionized data processing.
- This laboratory houses a super computing machine used for complex climate modeling.
Advanced Usage
- Theoretical computing machine: Often used in computer science theory, such as a "Turing machine," which is an abstract model of computation.
- The Turing machine is a conceptual computing machine that defines the limits of mechanical computation.
Variants and Related Words
- Computer (n): The modern, more common term for a computing machine.
- Calculator (n): A simpler device, typically for arithmetic operations, not usually programmable in the general sense.
- Data processor (n): A term highlighting the machine's function of processing information.
- Computing device (n): A broader term that can include smaller devices like smartphones and tablets.
Synonyms
- Computer
- Data processor
- Information processing system
Related Phrases
- Digital computing machine: Specifies a machine that operates on data represented in discrete, usually binary, form.
- Most modern computing machines are digital.
- Analog computing machine: Refers to a machine that uses continuous physical phenomena to model problems.
- Before the digital era, some computing machines were analog.
Noun
- a machine for performing calculations automatically