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Interrupt

As explained in Grokking Concurrency

A hardware interrupt is an interrupt generated by a hardware device or controller to request processor attention.

An interrupt is a signal that asks the CPU to stop a task and resume it later. A hardware interrupt comes from a hardware device or controller; pressing a keyboard button and completing a file write are examples. section 6.7

Interrupts help an operating system preempt a running task and give another task a turn. A timer can interrupt a thread after a time slice, letting another thread use the processor. Software interrupts, such as system calls, are caused by an application; timer and error interrupts are also distinguished. section 6.7 section 6.8

How Grokking Concurrency covers it

How deep it goes
Defines interrupt types and gives examples, but does not explain interrupt-handler internals.
Examples
Uses a keyboard button press, file-write completion, and a timer tick as interrupt examples.
What it assumes
Builds from task scheduling and CPU time slices, defining interrupts without assuming prior interrupt-handler knowledge.
What you can do after
Understand how device and timer signals can interrupt task execution during multitasking.
How it connects
Connects hardware interrupts to preemptive multitasking, time slices, software interrupts, and timer interrupts.
Cover of Grokking Concurrency
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This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Grokking Concurrency. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.