See also application programing interface, device independence. Of or pertaining to programs, languages, or computer components and devices that are tied to a particular computer system or configuration. Assembly language, for example, is hardware-dependent because it is created for and works only with a particular make or model of microprocessor. External hardware interrupts are used for such situations as a character received from a port and needing to be processed, a disk drive ready to transfer a block of data, or a tick of the system timer. Internal hardware interrupts occur when a program attempts an impossible action such as accessing an unavailable address or dividing by zero.
Hardware interrupts are assigned levels of importance or priority.
See also external interrupt, interrupt. A set of data that describes the configuration and characteristics of a given piece of computer equipment. Such data is typically used to configure computers for use with peripheral devices. Built into a system using hardware such as logic circuits, rather than accomplished through programming. Physically connected to a system or a network, as by means of a network connector board and cable.