MEMORY: A component of a computer that holds data.
Sometimes it doesn't. Amount present in a given
system is calculated in a manner similar to
REGISTERS (see).
REGISTER:
A part of a computer's processor that holds
information for a while. Number of registers in
a given system is N-3 where N is the number
needed to efficiently implement a function.
accumulator n. obs.
1. Archaic term for a register. On-line
use of it as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable
indication that the user has been around for quite a while and/or
that the architecture under discussion is quite old....
magic number n.
[Unix/C; common] 1. In source code
some non-obvious constant whose value is significant to the
operation of a program and that is inserted inconspicuously in-line
(hardcoded), rather than expanded in by a symbol set by a
commented #define....