The method by which an instruction references memory (RAM) or storage. In "indirect" addressing, the instruction points to another address (see
indirection). In "relative" addressing, the address is computed from a starting point (see
relative address). In "indexed" addressing, an address is modified by the contents of an index register or table (see
index register and
table).
No matter which mode is used, ultimately, in order to do any processing, instructions and data must reference an "absolute" address, which is a physical location (see
absolute address).