The short answer is yes. There's a Wikipedia entry on it. The gist of it is, if you have the address of the instructions you would like to read, then you can load those into data registers, test the instructions, and even write back new instructions. Many modern operating systems will probably not allow you write the instructions back however. It is a safety precaution to prevent malicious code from modifying your system, or trust applications.
Can a CPU process instructions as data? [closed]
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02-04-2022 - |
Question
While preparing for an exam, I came across this doubt. Does a CPU process instructions as data?
Solution
OTHER TIPS
Depends on the computer:
In von Neumann architecture, yes.
In Harvard architecture, no.
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