Editing Operand (section)

==Computer science==
In computer [[programming language]]s, the definitions of [[operator (programming)|operator]] and '''operand''' are almost the same as in mathematics.

In computing, an '''operand''' is the part of a computer instruction which specifies what data is to be manipulated or operated on, while at the same time representing the data itself.<ref>{{cite book
  |author =Nell Dale and John Lewis
  |title = Computer Science Illuminated, 5th Edition
  |year = 2012
  |publisher = Jones and Bartlett
  |ISBN =978-1449672843
}}</ref>
A computer instruction describes an operation such as add or multiply X, while the operand (or operands, as there can be more than one) specify on which X to operate as well as the value of X.

Additionally, in [[assembly language]], an '''operand''' is a value (an argument) on which the [[instruction (computer science)|instruction]], named by [[mnemonic]], operates.  The operand may be a [[processor register]], a [[memory address]], a literal constant, or a label.  A simple example (in the [[x86]] architecture) is
<syntaxhighlight lang="asm">
MOV BX, AX
</syntaxhighlight>
where the value in register operand <code>AX</code> is to be moved (<code>[[MOV (x86 instruction)|MOV]]</code>) into register <code>BX</code>. Depending on the [[instruction set|instruction]], there may be zero, one, two, or more operands.