A complex instruction set computer (CISC, /ˈsɪsk/) is a computer where single instructions can execute several low-level operations (such as a load from memory, an arithmetic operation, and a memory store) and/or are capable of multi-step operations or addressing modes within single instructions. The term was retroactively coined in contrast to reduced instruction set computer (RISC).
Examples of CISC instruction set architectures are System/360 through z/Architecture, PDP-11, VAX, Motorola 68k, and x86.
Famous quotes containing the words complex, instruction and/or set:
“We must open our eyes and see that modern civilization has become so complex and the lives of civilized men so interwoven with the lives of other men in other countries as to make it impossible to be in this world and out of it.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“There is in general good reason to suppose that in several respects the gods could all benefit from instruction by us human beings. We humans are—more humane.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I’ve tried to open the door. My knock isn’t that big a sound. But it is like the knock in “The Wizard of Oz.” It set up this echo through the halls until it was heard by everyone.”
—Shannon Faulkner (b. c. 1975)