What is Computer Architecture?

In simple terms, computer architecture refers to the design of a computer system, its hardware and software and how these interact with each other.

In academic terms, computer architecture is a set of disciplines that describe the functionality, organization and implementation of computer systems. Some definitions of architecture define it as describing the capabilities and programming model of a computer but not a particular implementation. In other descriptions computer architecture involves instruction set architecture design, micro architecture design, logic design, and implementation.

Computer architecture is divided primarily into three sub-categories

1) System Design: It includes all hardware components in the system

2) Instruction Set Architecture (ISA): This is the embedded programming language of the central processing unit.

3) Micro Architecture: It defines the data paths, data processing and storage elements, as well as how they should be implemented in the ISA