1. The method, act, process, or effect of using a device or
system. (
188 )
2. A well-defined action that, when applied to any permissible combination of known entities, produces a new entity,
e.g. , the process of addition in arithmetic--in adding 5 and 3 to obtain 8, the numbers 5 and 3 are the operands, the number 8 is the result, and the plus sign is the operator indicating that the operation performed is addition.
3. A
program step, usually specified by a part of an
instruction word, that is undertaken or executed by a
computer.
Note: Examples of operations include addition, multiplication, extraction, comparison, shift,
transfer.