What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Information vs Instruction - What's the difference?

information | instruction |

In computing terms the difference between information and instruction

is that information is ... the meaning that a human assigns to data by means of the known conventions used in its representation while instruction is a single operation of a processor defined by an instruction set architecture.

As nouns the difference between information and instruction

is that information is things that are or can be known about a given topic; communicable knowledge of something while instruction is the act of instructing, teaching, or furnishing with information or knowledge.

information

English

Noun

(en-noun)
  • Things that are or can be known about a given topic; communicable knowledge of something.
  • I need some more information about this issue.
  • The act of informing or imparting knowledge; notification.
  • For your information , I did this because I wanted to.
  • (legal) A statement of criminal activity brought before a judge or magistrate; in the UK, used to inform a magistrate of an offence and request a warrant; in the US, an accusation brought before a judge without a grand jury indictment.
  • (obsolete) The act of informing against someone, passing on incriminating knowledge; accusation.
  • (Christianity) Divine inspiration.
  • (information theory) Any unambiguous abstract data, the smallest possible unit being the .
  • A service provided by telephone which provides listed telephone numbers of a subscriber.
  • As contrasted with data, knowledge which is gathered as a result of processing data.
  • And as you can see in this slide, we then take the raw data and convert it into information .
  • (computing) […] the meaning that a human assigns to data by means of the known conventions used in its representation.
  • Usage notes

    * The definition of information in the computing context is from an international standard vocabulary which, though formally accepted, is largely ignored by the computing profession that should be adhering to it.[http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1957/]

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (information)

    Statistics

    * ----

    instruction

    Noun

  • (lb) The act of instructing, teaching, or furnishing with information or knowledge.
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1927, author= F. E. Penny
  • , chapter=5, title= Pulling the Strings , passage=Anstruther laughed good-naturedly. “[…] I shall take out half a dozen intelligent maistries from our Press and get them to give our villagers instruction when they begin work and when they are in the fields.”}}
  • (lb) An instance of the information or knowledge so furnished.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:If my instructions may be your guide.
  • (lb) An order or command.
  • *
  • *:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
  • (lb) A single operation of a processor defined by an instruction set architecture.
  • Synonyms

    * See also