What was the primary advancement of the EDVAC over the ENIAC?
Answer Details
The primary advancement of the EDVAC over the ENIAC was its Stored-Program architecture.
Here's a simple and clear explanation:
ENIAC, which stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was one of the earliest electronic general-purpose computers. However, one significant limitation of the ENIAC was that its program instructions had to be input manually using switches and plugboards. This made programming very tedious and inflexible.
EDVAC, or the Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer, introduced the concept of the Stored-Program architecture. In this system, both program instructions and data could be stored in the computer's memory. This allowed the computer to be much more flexible because it could change programs and operations without needing to manually rewire it. The Stored-Program concept is instrumental to modern computing, making it the most noteworthy advancement of the EDVAC over its predecessor, the ENIAC.