
Computer interfacing
Software polling
Supposing that a computer is connected to several pe-
ripherals, the computer has to know, in some way, when
any one of these devices needs service. Polling is a con-
tinuous process in which the computer keeps asking each
peripheral in turn whether it needs attention. Because
the speed at which the computer works is so much
greater than that of the majority of peripherals, the an-
swer is invariably no. In this case, the computer moves
on to the next peripheral and repeats the questions, and
so on. After interrogating the last peripheral in line the
computer goes back to the first one and starts the proc