--- title: The Most Ambiguous Concept in Computer Science | daily.dev description: A deep dive into the ambiguous term 'architecture' in computing, explaining how it applies at multiple levels. Starting from logic gates and ALUs, the video... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-most-ambiguous-concept-in-computer-science-hcd9pny5u twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The Most Ambiguous Concept in Computer Science | daily.dev og:description: A deep dive into the ambiguous term 'architecture' in computing, explaining how it applies at multiple levels. Starting from logic gates and ALUs, the video... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-most-ambiguous-concept-in-computer-science-hcd9pny5u og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/hCD9PnY5U.png og:image:alt: The Most Ambiguous Concept in Computer Science og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Most Ambiguous Concept in Computer Science **[Core Dumped](https://daily.dev/sources/coredumpped)** · 12 min read · 3 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A deep dive into the ambiguous term 'architecture' in computing, explaining how it applies at multiple levels. Starting from logic gates and ALUs, the video distinguishes between Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) — the abstract contract between software and hardware defining available instructions and their binary encoding — and microarchitecture, which is the internal implementation of that ISA. Real-world ISAs like x86-64, ARM, and RISC-V are discussed, showing how multiple microarchitectures (from Intel, AMD, Apple M-series) can implement the same ISA, enabling software compatibility across different hardware designs. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the difference between instruction set architecture and microarchitecture? Instruction set architecture (ISA) is the abstract specification defining which instructions exist, how they are encoded in bits, and the programmer-visible contract between software and a processor. Microarchitecture is the actual internal circuitry and design used to implement that ISA. A single ISA, such as x86-64, can be implemented by many different microarchitectures from vendors like Intel and AMD, all running the same compiled software. _Developers comparing CPU designs can follow ISA and microarchitecture explainers like this on daily.dev._ ### Why can't a program compiled for x86-64 run natively on an Apple M-series chip? A program compiled for x86-64 cannot run natively on Apple's M-series processors because those chips implement the ARM instruction set architecture instead of x86-64. Since the ISA defines the programmer-visible contract of available instructions and their binary encoding, software must be recompiled for ARM to run correctly, even though both are valid CPU designs. _Anyone weighing cross-architecture compatibility can track ISA differences like x86-64 versus ARM on daily.dev._ ### Why do new CPU generations get called a 'new architecture' even though they still run the same software? When companies announce a new CPU built on a new architecture, they typically mean a new microarchitecture, not a new instruction set architecture. Creating a brand-new ISA each year would break compatibility with existing compiled software, forcing developers to recompile or rewrite programs, so vendors instead design new internal circuitry that still implements an existing ISA like x86-64 or ARM. _Engineers tracking CPU announcements can distinguish real ISA shifts from microarchitecture updates via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Part-02: More Computer Hardware](https://daily.dev/posts/part-02-more-computer-hardware-yyol3khar) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Inner Workings Of The Intel 8086’s Arithmetic Logic Unit](https://daily.dev/posts/the-inner-workings-of-the-intel-8086-s-arithmetic-logic-unit-xnfeogipn) · Hackaday · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Notes on the Intel 8086 processor's arithmetic-logic unit](https://daily.dev/posts/notes-on-the-intel-8086-processor-s-arithmetic-logic-unit-d8w6bkxpq) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Architecture Through Different Lenses 2025](https://daily.dev/posts/architecture-through-different-lenses-2025-g2wleajn0) · InfoQ · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#architecture](https://daily.dev/tags/architecture), [#computing](https://daily.dev/tags/computing) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-most-ambiguous-concept-in-computer-science-hcd9pny5u) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The Most Ambiguous Concept in Computer Science","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-most-ambiguous-concept-in-computer-science-hcd9pny5u","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-most-ambiguous-concept-in-computer-science-hcd9pny5u"},"datePublished":"2026-07-16T13:05:23.733Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T09:16:11.588Z","description":"A deep dive into the ambiguous term 'architecture' in computing, explaining how it applies at multiple levels. Starting from logic gates and ALUs, the video...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eNtADpJ2EC4/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eNtADpJ2EC4/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Core Dumped","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Core Dumped","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--N9ie6ehW--/f_auto/v1725038034/logos/coredumpped","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/coredumpped"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-most-ambiguous-concept-in-computer-science-hcd9pny5u","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"architecture,computing","timeRequired":"PT12M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Most Ambiguous Concept in Computer Science","description":"A deep dive into the ambiguous term 'architecture' in computing, explaining how it applies at multiple levels. Starting from logic gates and ALUs, the video...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eNtADpJ2EC4/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-07-16T13:05:23.733Z","duration":"PT12M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/hCD9PnY5U","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/eNtADpJ2EC4"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Core Dumped","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/coredumpped"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Most Ambiguous Concept in Computer Science"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-most-ambiguous-concept-in-computer-science-hcd9pny5u#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the difference between instruction set architecture and microarchitecture?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Instruction set architecture (ISA) is the abstract specification defining which instructions exist, how they are encoded in bits, and the programmer-visible contract between software and a processor. Microarchitecture is the actual internal circuitry and design used to implement that ISA. A single ISA, such as x86-64, can be implemented by many different microarchitectures from vendors like Intel and AMD, all running the same compiled software. Developers comparing CPU designs can follow ISA and microarchitecture explainers like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why can't a program compiled for x86-64 run natively on an Apple M-series chip?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A program compiled for x86-64 cannot run natively on Apple's M-series processors because those chips implement the ARM instruction set architecture instead of x86-64. Since the ISA defines the programmer-visible contract of available instructions and their binary encoding, software must be recompiled for ARM to run correctly, even though both are valid CPU designs. Anyone weighing cross-architecture compatibility can track ISA differences like x86-64 versus ARM on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why do new CPU generations get called a 'new architecture' even though they still run the same software?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"When companies announce a new CPU built on a new architecture, they typically mean a new microarchitecture, not a new instruction set architecture. Creating a brand-new ISA each year would break compatibility with existing compiled software, forcing developers to recompile or rewrite programs, so vendors instead design new internal circuitry that still implements an existing ISA like x86-64 or ARM. Engineers tracking CPU announcements can distinguish real ISA shifts from microarchitecture updates via daily.dev."}}]} ```