Controllers 101

Microcontroller
A microcontroller is a special purpose computer. There are microcontrollers inside TV's and cars. It has a [micro]processor inside. It can run programs (instead of using many gates).

Integrated Circuit
An IC is a thin chip containing many transistors and resistors. A microprocessor is an example of an IC.

Microprocessor
When the CPU (a CPU carries out instructions from software) is on a single IC it's called a Microprocessor. It has many transistors. It executes machine instructions to do 3 basic things -

1. Using it's ALU perform math operations like addition etc.
2. Move data from one memory location to another
3. Make decisions and jump to new instructions based on those decisions
   

Assembly language
Assembly language is the native language of a microprocessor. A C program after being compiled is converted into assembly language.

Breadboard
Used to build a prototype of electronics. It's a piece of plastic with many holes that are linked with conductive traces in rows. The name is derived from early days when amateurs would nail copper wire to a wooden board (used for bread cutting) and solder electronic components to them.