![]() The difference between them lies in how much data is read and written by the operating system and hardware. There are two general kinds of device files in Unix-like operating systems, known as character special files and block special files. Additionally, device files are useful for accessing system resources that have no connection with any actual device, such as data sinks and random number generators. Using standard system calls simplifies many programming tasks, and leads to consistent user-space I/O mechanisms regardless of device features and functions.ĭevice files usually provide simple interfaces to standard devices (such as printers and serial ports), but can also be used to access specific unique resources on those devices, such as disk partitions. ![]() These special files allow an application program to interact with a device by using its device driver via standard input/output system calls. There are also special files in DOS, OS/2, and Windows. ![]() ![]() In Unix-like operating systems, a device file or special file is an interface to a device driver that appears in a file system as if it were an ordinary file. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |