Immediate addressing is a method used in computer programming and assembly language where the operand (the data to be processed) is specified directly within the instruction itself. This means that the value is available immediately, allowing for faster execution since the processor does not need to fetch the data from memory. For example, in an instruction like MOV A, 5, the number 5 is the immediate value that will be moved into the register A. This approach is efficient for small constants but is limited in size, as it can only handle values that fit within the instruction's format.