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Operation
  • The method, act, process, or effect of using a device or system.
  • 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. (FP) (ISO)
  • A program step, usually specified by the operation part of an instruction, that is undertaken or executed by a computer, e. g. , addition, multiplication, extraction, comparison, shift, transfer. (FP) See also instruction, operand.