Everything about Null device
Device file that discards all data written to it
In some operating systems, the null device is a device file that discards all data written to it but reports that the write operation succeeded. This device is called /dev/null on Unix and Unix-like systems, NUL: or NUL on CP/M and DOS, nul on OS/2 and newer Windows systems, NIL: on Amiga operating systems, and NL: on OpenVMS. In Windows Powershell, the equivalent is $null. It provides no data to any process that reads from it, yielding EOF immediately. In IBM operating systems DOS/360 and successors and also in OS/360 and successors such files would be assigned in JCL to DD DUMMY. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Null deviceA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Device‐Independent Dimension Leakage Null Test on Qubits at Low Operational CostInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Unix System V Release 3.2 Network Programmer's GuideThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Theory of a Monolithic, Null Device and Some Novel CircuitsCited 45 times
- Go sideways: Peripheral Interchange ProgramA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Device fileA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Noun A type of device file that discards all written data in it.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Theory of a Monolithic, Null Device and Some Novel Circuits
Electromagnetic analyses of single and double null configurations in DEMO device
Null strain analysis of submerged aneurysm analogues using a novel 3D stereomicroscopy device
A linear voltage-tunable distributed null device
Quantum null-hypothesis device-independent Schmidt number witness
Null Stability of a Photovoltaic Pick-Off Device
Null device for pressure measurements of corrosive gases
Mechanism Design of the Micro Weighing Device by Using Null Balance Method
🆕 Influential since 2022
📚 Books worth reading
- 📕Unix System V Release 3.2 Network Programmer's GuideAT & T Bell Laboratories. Technical Publication Dept. · 1988
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
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