Hi Ron, and thanks for your input. > > Now, I'm not quite sure that I completely comprehend matters: Is there > > a difference between Asynchronous I/O and Buffered I/O? > * Asynchronous (a-syn-chron-ous) is an adjective which means "not together with time". > * Buffered means "read more than you need at the moment, and then do processing to/from a cache". > Their antonyms are > * Synchronous (syn-chron-ous): together with time. > * Direct, where you read/write only what you need at the moment, directly to/from the IO device. > Thus, async IO is where you tell the IO subsystem that you need something, and then go off and do something else; the IO system interrupts you when the data has been delivered. > Synchronous IO is where you request IO and then wait for the data. Grand - that's the conclusion I was coming to myself... If you (or anyone) would have any good detailed technical references which explain these issues, I'd be very grateful. Rgs, Pól...
