[Reduced Instruction Set Computer], computer arithmetic-logic unit that uses a minimal instruction set, emphasizing the instructions used most often and optimizing them for the fastest possible execution. Software for RISC processors must handle more operations than traditional CISC [Complex Instruction Set Computer] processors, but RISC processors have advantages in applications that benefit from faster instruction execution, such as engineering and graphics workstations and parallel-processing systems. They are also less costly to design, test, and manufacture. In the mid-1990s RISC processors began to be used in personal computers instead of the CISC processors that had been used since the introduction of the microprocessor.

See D. Tabak, RISC Systems (1990); M. Slater, A Guide to RISC Microprocessors (1992).

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