Byte stream - Revision history

Jnc: Avoid redir

2025-04-16T12:01:49Z

Avoid redir

Larsbrinkhoff: -redir

2023-10-14T20:01:43Z

-redir

Jnc: +cat

2018-12-16T21:24:49Z

+cat

Jnc: Import my old version

2017-12-28T12:57:22Z

Import my old version

New page

A '''byte stream''' is an [[abstraction]] which describes a particular kind of communication channel between two entities. (In [[computer networking]] the term '''octet stream''' is sometimes used to refer to the same thing; at the time the concept was first used in the field, not all computers used 8-[[bit]] [[byte]]s, whereas on most modern computers bytes are [[octet]]s.)

Formally, it is a channel (often bi-directional, but sometimes uni-directional) down which one entity can send a sequence of bytes to the entity on the other end. In almost all instances, the channel has the property that it is ''reliable''; i.e. the exact same bytes emerge, in the exact same order, at the other end.

Less formally, one can think of it as a conduit between the two entities; one entity can insert bytes into the conduit, and the other entity then receives them.

The ''[[pipe]]'' mechanism used in a number of [[operating system]]s, such as [[Unix]] and [[MS-DOS]], is a uni-directional byte stream. One well-known example of a communication [[protocol]] which provides a byte-stream service to its clients is the [[Transmission Control Protocol]] of the [[Internet protocol suite]], which provides a bidirectional 8-bit byte stream; it is being used to bring you this [[World Wide Web|Web]] page.

==See also==

* [[Reliable byte stream]]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Less formally, one can think of it as a conduit between the two entities; one entity can insert bytes into the conduit, and the other entity then receives them.
-The ''[[pipe]]'' mechanism used in a number of [[operating system]]s, such as [[Unix]] and [[MS-DOS]], is a uni-directional byte stream. One well-known example of a communication [[protocol]] which provides a byte-stream service to its clients is the [[Transmission Control Protocol]] of the [[TCP/IP|Internet protocol suite]], which provides a bidirectional 8-bit byte stream; it is being used to bring you this [[World Wide Web|Web]] page.
+The ''[[pipe]]'' mechanism used in a number of [[operating system]]s, such as [[UNIX]] and [[MS-DOS]], is a uni-directional byte stream. One well-known example of a communication [[protocol]] which provides a byte-stream service to its clients is the [[Transmission Control Protocol]] of the [[TCP/IP|Internet protocol suite]], which provides a bi-directional 8-bit byte stream; it is being used to bring you this [[World Wide Web|Web]] page.
 ==See also==

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:24, 16 December 2018
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	* [[Reliable byte stream]]		* [[Reliable byte stream]]
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		+	[[Category: OS Basics]]