Reading (computer science)

Reading is a process that computers perform to access data from a source and place it in their volatile memory for processing. The sources from which computers can read data are very varied: hard disks, floppy disks, Internet, audio and video inputs through computer ports, etc.

The action of reading an information unit (for example, a byte) is called the reading cycle. The electric circuit that transforms the physical changes in the magnetic flux into abstract bits is the reading channel. Read errors occur when the physical component of the process fails for some reason (dust, scratches, etc.).

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