2.7 Summary

When viewed from high above, all CPUs are similar—they read and write memory, perform data operations, and make decisions. However, there are many ways to design an instruction set, as illustrated by the differences between the ARM, the C55x, and the C64x. When designing complex systems, we generally view the programs in high-level language form, which hides many of the details of the instruction set. However, differences in instruction sets can be reflected in nonfunctional characteristics, such as program size and speed.