What is Buffering?
What is Buffering in Operating Systems?
Buffering is the technique of using a temporary memory area (buffer) to hold data while it is transferred between a fast producer and a slow consumer, or between devices with different speeds. It smooths data flow, reduces waiting time, and allows the CPU to overlap computation with I/O operations.
Why Buffering is Used
- Matches speed differences between CPU, memory, and I/O devices.
- Improves throughput by overlapping I/O and processing.
- Reduces latency spikes and avoids data loss.
- Supports block-to-stream and stream-to-block data transfers.
Common Types of Buffering
- Single Buffering: One buffer; simple but may cause waiting.
- Double Buffering: Two buffers; one fills while the other is processed.
- Circular (Ring) Buffering: Multiple buffers managed in a loop for continuous data streams.
Examples
- Print spooler holding print jobs before the printer processes them.
- Disk I/O buffering to group reads/writes efficiently.
- Network and audio/video streaming buffers to prevent stutter.
- Keyboard input buffered before being read by applications.