What is opcode and operand in microprocessor?

In microprocessor architecture, an opcode (short for "operation code") is a code that represents a specific operation or instruction that the microprocessor should execute. It is a binary code that is understood by the microprocessor's instruction decoder, which is responsible for fetching the next instruction from memory and translating it into a sequence of micro-operations that the processor can perform.

On the other hand, an operand is a value or address that is used by an instruction to perform an operation. It is typically a binary number or memory address that the instruction operates on. For example, in the instruction ADD AX, BX, ADD is the opcode, while AX and BX are the operands. The opcode tells the processor to add the value in the BX register to the value in the AX register and store the result back in AX