A computer architecture in which a single memory store holds both program instructions and data, accessed over a shared bus, described in John von Neumann's 1945 First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC. The source is direct that naming the architecture after von Neumann alone is historically inaccurate: J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, both already pioneers on this atlas, had essentially finished designing a stored-program computer before discussing the ideas with von Neumann, and the Draft circulated under his name only because Herman Goldstine distributed it before it was finished, to Eckert and Mauchly's documented frustration. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Disputed
Core PrincipleA single memory holding both instructions and data, rather than separate stores for each, is the defining trait; the naming of the principle after von Neumann alone, rather than the EDVAC team that actually worked it out, is itself a standing historiographic dispute. 1 Historian Jack Copeland has called it historically inappropriate to refer to electronic stored-program digital computers as von Neumann machines. Connections
Associated With
ENIAC, Systems Source Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
Held Differently
J. Presper Eckert, Pioneers Why this is disputed. Eckert and Mauchly had essentially finished designing a stored-program computer before discussing the ideas with von Neumann; the architecture's naming credits him alone despite this.
Source Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
John Mauchly, Pioneers Why this is disputed. Eckert and Mauchly had essentially finished designing a stored-program computer before discussing the ideas with von Neumann; the architecture's naming credits him alone despite this.
Source Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
In Field
Source Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
Invented By
Source Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
WikipediaLead and History sections
The attribution of the invention of the architecture to von Neumann is incorrect.
History section
historically inappropriate to refer to electronic stored-program digital computers as von Neumann machines
- In Field: Computer Architecture, Lead section
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the Von Neumann architecture named after John von Neumann if others designed it?
The 1945 EDVAC report circulated under von Neumann's name alone, though Eckert and Mauchly had essentially finished the stored-program design first.
The name comes from John von Neumann's 1945 First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, which described a single memory holding both program instructions and data. The Draft circulated under his name alone because Herman Goldstine distributed it before it was finished. J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly had essentially finished designing a stored-program computer before discussing the ideas with von Neumann, and they were frustrated by the credit. Wikipedia states that attributing the invention to von Neumann is incorrect, so the label is a historical convention and not an accurate account of who invented the design.
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