Difference between Microprocessor and Microcontroller
| System | It is the heart of the computer system. | It is the heart of an embedded system. |
| Contains | It contains CPU, general purpose registers, stack pointers, program counters, clock timing and interrupt circuits. | It contains the circuitry of a microprocessor and has built-in ROM, RAM, I/O devices, timers, and counters. |
| Data memory | It has many instructions to move data between memory and CPU. | It has one or two instructions to move data between memory and CPU. |
| Circuit | It is large. | It is small. |
| Cost | The cost of the entire system increases. | The cost of the entire system is low. |
| Bit instructions | It has one or two-bit handling instructions. | It has many bit handling instructions. |
| Register numbers | It has less number of registers; hence the operations are memory-based. | It has a larger number of registers; hence the programs are easier to write. |
| Storage | It is based on Von Neumann architecture, where the program and data are stored in the same memory module. | It is based on the Harvard architecture, where the program memory and data memory are stored in separate modules. |
| Time | Access time for memory and I/O devices is more. | Less access time for built-in memory and I/O devices. |
| Hardware | It requires more hardware. | It requires less hardware. |
