What are the main components and operations of an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)?

An ALU performs arithmetic (addition, subtraction, increment, decrement) and logic (AND, OR, XOR, NOT, shift) operations on binary data. Key components include: Arithmetic unit (adder/subtractor with carry handling), Logic unit (parallel logic gates for bitwise operations), Multiplexer (selects between arithmetic and logic results based on opcode), and Status flags (carry, zero, negative, overflow). The operation is selected by control signals. Modern ALUs may include barrel shifters, multipliers, and support for SIMD operations.