Memory is one of the core hardware components for the computer. It is the component that temporarily stores information (such as Numbers, Characters, Settings, Instructions, Files and so on) once a computer has started. The information is temporary because when a computer is switched off or restarted the information is deleted from memory. When a program has finished with the information, the memory it was using is released (not deleted) so other programs can then use that memory.
Memory itself is a microchip (see above) that can temporarily store Bytes. The more bytes the memory has the more information it can temporarily store. A byte is just a number with a value between 0 and 255. It is a program’s job to turn each byte into something a human and/or another program can interpret. For example. If the memory was storing 4 Bytes with the values 74, 79, 72 and 78 it would mean nothing to you. However. To Microsoft Word 2007 the byte value 74 means J. The byte value 79 means O. The byte value 72 means H and the byte value 78 means N. So even though the memory is storing byte values that mean nothing to you, Microsoft Word 2007 has no trouble interpreting (reading) those same byte values as JOHN. The same applies to other programs that interpret (read) the byte values. For example. A Paint program might interpret 74 as colour Red, 79 as colour Yellow, 72 as colour Blue and 78 as colour Green. Whereas a Language program might interpret (read) 74 as English, 79 as Spanish, 72 as French and 78 as Italian. It depends on the program. Either way, the memory will always see 74, 79, 72 and 78. Here is a diagram of the memory with the 4 Bytes interpreted. Read more…
