Quick Reference Search Tool Webopedia Jobs Link to Us Advertising Tech Support Submit a URL Request a Term Report an Error Internet News Internet Investing Internet Technology Windows Internet Tech. A signal informing a program that an event has occurred. Interrupt signals can cause a program to suspend itself temporarily to service the interrupt.
Interrupt signals can come from a variety of sources.
For example, every keystroke generates an interrupt signal. Interrupts can also be generated by other devices , such as a printer , to indicate that some event has occurred. These are called hardware interrupts. Interrupt signals initiated by programs are called software interrupts . A software interrupt is also called a trap or an exception.