Question

Why is it necessary for the primary memory to be of random access type?please elaborate

Answer 1

The computer has to perform a large number of operations, so the primary memory needs to be random access to perform operations as fast as possible in terms of micro and nano seconds.

• Memory is the most essential element of a computing system because without it computer can’t perform simple tasks.  
• Computer memory is of two basic type – Primary memory(RAM and ROM) and Secondary memory(hard drive, CD,etc.).  
• Random Access Memory (RAM) is primary-volatile memory and Read Only Memory (ROM) is primary-non-volatile memory.
• RAM is also called a read-write memory or the main memory or the primary memory.
• The programs and data that the CPU requires during the execution of a program are stored in this memory.
• (random access - every memory location can be accessed directly rather than being accessed in a fixed sequence.)
• It is a volatile memory as the data will be lost when the power is turned off.