Von Neumann , Arthur W. Burks , and Herman Goldstine,
in "Preliminary Discussion of the Logical Design of an Electronic
Computing Instrument," going out of their way to use biological
metaphors, defined the concept of a software program and showed
how a computer could execute such a program by , stored in a binary-code
random-access memory unit, by obeying instructions of a central
control unit. This 'von Neumann architecture,' drawing its
circuit designs using McCulloch-Pitts neural-net notation with
its sharp distinction between software and hardware, is the basis
for almost all computers today.