Input/Output Operations
Input/Output (I/O) operations refer to the fundamental processes in computing where data is transferred between a computer's central processing unit (CPU) and external devices, such as storage drives, network interfaces, or user peripherals. This includes reading data from sources like files, databases, or network sockets (input) and writing data to destinations like displays, files, or remote servers (output). Efficient I/O handling is critical for application performance, data integrity, and user experience in software development.
Developers should learn I/O operations because they are essential for building applications that interact with external systems, such as file handling in desktop apps, network communication in web services, or database queries in backend systems. Mastery of I/O concepts helps optimize performance by managing blocking vs. non-blocking operations, handling errors gracefully, and ensuring data consistency in scenarios like logging, data processing, or real-time streaming.