
\S central processing unit:  CPU: CPU priority: \S

The central processing unit or CPU controls everything that the computer
does.  It interprets the "machine language"\S*\S instructions created by
the "compiler"\S*\S or "interpreter"\S*\S.  These machine language
instructions are 0's and 1's that are transmitted to the CPU as electric
pulses.  The electric pulses affect the chips and transistors of the CPU.
CPU priority refers to the order that programs reach the CPU.  Most times
the first programs executed by the user will be the first executed by the
CPU.  The first command waiting to be executed has the highest priority.

\S*\S defined in the \Sglossary\S
