Defining Memory
The stuff that most people call “computer memory” in a specific sense functions as your computer's primary storage. That is, the contents of the storage system are in a form that your computer's microprocessor can immediately access, ready to be used. It can be accessed using only electricity at the speed of electricity (which can be nearly the speed of light). It is the memory used by your computer's microprocessor to hold the data and program code that's used during the active execution of programs, the microprocessor's main job. For this reason, primary storage is sometimes called working memory.
The immediacy of primary memory requires that your microprocessor be able to find any given value without poring through huge blocks ...
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