Programmer's key: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:45, 5 January 2005

Revision as of 04:57, 5 January 2005

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The '''Programmer's Key''', or ''interrupt button'', is a button or switch on a [[computer]] which causes an [[asynchronous]] [[interrupt]] request (IRQ) to be sent to the [[processor]]. If a [[debugger]] is installed on the machine, it is activated when the interrupt request is processed, allowing the user to view and usually modify the computer's internal memory. This is quite useful in [[debugging]] software, which is why it gets its name.

The "key" need not always be a button or a switch. On some computers, it is a pinhole into which a straightened paperclip must be inserted (to prevent accidental activation).

On [[Macintosh computers]], an interrupt request can be sent by holding down the '''command''' key and striking the '''power''' key on the keyboard.

OnThis term is used chiefly among [[MacintoshApple computersMacintosh|Macintosh]] programmers, perhaps because the Mac hardware always has supported this function. On Macintosh computers, an interrupt request can also be sent by holding down the '''command''' key and striking the '''power''' key on the keyboard.

==See also==