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Everything about Interrupt

Signal to a computer processor emitted by hardware or software

In digital computers, an interrupt is a request for the processor to interrupt currently executing code, so that the event can be processed in a timely manner. If the request is accepted, the processor will suspend its current activities, save its state, and execute a function called an interrupt handler to deal with the event. This interruption is often temporary, allowing the software to resume normal activities after the interrupt handler finishes, although the interrupt could instead indicate a fatal error. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: InterruptA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory virusesInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: The Z80 microprocessorThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Deletions and a translocation interrupt a cloned gene at the neurofibromatosis type 1 locusCited 891 times
  5. Go sideways: Intel 8259A closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Interrupt descriptor tableA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Verb To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.

Verb To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of.

Verb To assert to (a computer) that an exceptional condition must be handled.

Noun An event that causes a computer or other device to temporarily cease what it was doing and attend to a condition.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. History
  2. Types
  3. Triggering methods
  4. Processor response
  5. System implementation
  6. Performance
  7. Typical uses

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics