Definition of Abstract machine

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abstract machine
1. <language> A processor design which is not intended to be implemented as hardware, but which is the notional executor of a particular intermediate language (abstract machine language) used in a compiler or interpreter. An abstract machine has an instruction set, a register set and a model of memory. It may provide instructions which are closer to the language being compiled than any physical computer or it may be used to make the language implementation easier to port to other platforms.
A virtual machine is an abstract machine for which an interpreter exists.
Examples: ABC, Abstract Machine Notation, ALF, CAML, F-code, FP/M, Hermes, LOWL, Christmas, SDL, S-K reduction machine, SECD, Tbl, Tcode, TL0, WAM.
2. A procedure for executing a set of instructions in some formal language, possibly also taking in input data and producing output. Such abstract machines are not intended to be constructed as hardware but are used in thought experiments about computability.
Examples: Finite State Machine, Turing Machine.
(1995-03-13)

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Abstract machine definition was found in categories: Language, Idioms & Slang(1)  Encyclopedia(1)  

Abstract machine Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries

hEnglish - advanced version
abstract machine
abstract machine
acalycine \a*cal"y*cine\ (&?;), acalysinous \ac`a*lys`i*nous\ (&?;), a. [gr. 'a priv. + &?; calyx.] (bot.) without a calyx, or outer floral envelope.


Abstract machine Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries

Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia
Abstract machine
An abstract machine, also called an abstract computer, is a theoretical model of a computer hardware or software system used in Automata theory. Abstraction of computing processes is used in both the computer science and computer engineering disciplines and usually assumes discrete time paradigm.

In the theory of computation, abstract machines are often used in thought experiments regarding computability or to analyze the complexity of algorithms (see computational complexity theory). A typical abstract machine consists of a definition in terms of input, output, and the set of allowable operations used to turn the former into the latter. The best-known example is the Turing machine.


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