Model of computation
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (February 2021) |
In computer science, and more specifically in computability theory and computational complexity theory, a model of computation is a model which describes how an output of a mathematical function is computed given an input. A model describes how units of computations, memories, and communications are organized.[1] The computational complexity of an algorithm can be measured given a model of computation. Using a model allows studying the performance of algorithms independently of the variations that are specific to particular implementations and specific technology.
Models
Models of computation can be classified into three categories: sequential models,
Uses
In the field of runtime analysis of algorithms, it is common to specify a computational model in terms of primitive operations allowed which have unit cost, or simply unit-cost operations. A commonly used example is the random-access machine, which has unit cost for read and write access to all of its memory cells. In this respect, it differs from the above-mentioned Turing machine model.
See also
- Stack machine (0-operand machine)
- Accumulator machine (1-operand machine)
- Register machine (2,3,... operand machine)
- Random-access machine
- Abstract machine
- Cell-probe model
- Robertson–Webb query model
- Chomsky hierarchy
- Turing completeness
References
- ^ "Models of Computation" (PDF).
Further reading
- Fernández, Maribel (2009). Models of Computation: An Introduction to Computability Theory. Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science. Springer. ISBN 978-1-84882-433-1.
- Savage, John E. (1998). Models Of Computation: Exploring the Power of Computing. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0201895391.
