Addressing: the root of all programming evils

Virtually from the inception of computers, the von Neumann model of computation has gone unchallenged as the accepted general purpose mechanism of computation. A Web-search on computational models does not reveal any alternatives to compete with it. Ideas like data-flow architectures and the biological computer have had little impact. Few have done any critical assessment of the von Neumann model. Backus stirred considerable interest in his paper questioning its merits. However twenty five years later on little has changed. A different angle is taken here in trying to make a critical assessment by considering addressing: a fundamental underpinning of the model. Firstly we need to establish if addressing is inherent to computation. Having established it is not, a brief study is critical analysis is made of addressing. Concluding that there can be significant benefits if alternative to addressing can be found.