CharacterGeräte
CharacterGeräte, or character devices, are a class of device files used in Unix-like operating systems to provide unbuffered, sequential I/O streams between user processes and hardware drivers. Unlike block devices, which expose random-access blocks of data and rely on buffering, character devices transfer data as a stream of characters with minimal processing by the kernel. Access is through standard system calls such as open, read, and write, and the device driver implements the behavior for each device.
Character devices cover interfaces such as terminals and serial ports. Examples include /dev/ttyS0 (a serial line),
Management and identification: In Unix-like systems, character devices are represented by character special files, identified by
See also: Block devices, POSIX I/O, Device file, Unix-like operating systems.