circular buffer

circular buffer

(programming)

An area of memory used to store a continuous stream of data by starting again at the beginning of the buffer after reaching the end. A circular buffer is usually written by one process and read by another. Separate read and write pointers are maintained. These are not allowed to pass each other otherwise either unread data would be overwritten or invalid data would be read.

A circuit may implement a hardware circular buffer.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

circular buffer

An area of memory or a dedicated hardware circuit that is used to store incoming data. When the buffer is filled, new data are written starting at the beginning of the buffer. Circular buffers are typically used to hold data written by one process and read by another. In such cases, separate read and write pointers are used that are not allowed to cross each other so that unread data cannot be overwritten by new data.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.