interrupts ==>
interrupt
<programming> 1. An asynchronous event that suspends normal processing
and temporarily diverts the flow of control through an "interrupt handler"
routine.
Interrupts may be caused by both hardware (I/O, timer, machine check) and
software (supervisor, system call or trap instruction).
In general the computer responds to an interrupt by storing the information
about the current state of the running program; storing information to identify
the source of the interrupt; and invoking a first-level interrupt handler. This
is usually a kernel level privileged process that can discover the precise cause
of the interrupt (e.g. if several devices share one interrupt) and what must be
done to keep operating system tables (such as the process table) updated. This
first-level handler may then call another handler, e.g. one associated with the
particular device which generated the interrupt.
2. Under MS-DOS, nearly synonymous with "system call" because the OS and BIOS
routines are both called using the INT instruction (see interrupt list) and
because programmers so often have to bypass the operating system (going directly
to a BIOS interrupt) to get reasonable performance.
[Jargon File]
(1995-02-07)
Nearby terms:
interpreter « Interpretive Menu Processor «
Inter-process Communication « interrupt »
interrupt handler » interrupt list » interrupt
priority level
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