Difference between revisions of "Input/output"

Revision as of 06:42, 12 August 2015

In computing, input/output (I/O, io, IO, etc.) is the communication between an information processing system (such as a computer) and the outside world, possibly a human or another information processing system.

• Inputs are the signals or data received by the system.
• Outputs are the signals or data sent from it.

The term can also be used as part of an action; to "perform I/O" is to perform an input or output operation.

I/O devices are used by a human (or other system) to communicate with a computer.

For instance, a keyboard or mouse is an input device for a computer, while monitors and printers are output devices.

Devices for communication between computers, such as modems and network cards, typically perform both input and output operations.

Duality of input/output relationship

The designation of a device as either input or output depends on perspective.

Mice and keyboards take physical movements that the human user outputs and convert them into input signals that a computer can understand; the output from these devices is the computer's input. Similarly, printers and monitors take signals that a computer outputs as input, and they convert these signals into a representation that human users can understand. From the human user's perspective, the process of reading or seeing these representations is receiving input; this type of interaction between computers and humans is studied in the field of human–computer interaction.

See also

• Feedback
• Input (computing)
• Output (computing)

External links

• Input/output @ Wikipedia