What is a Pipe?

The implementation of a unidirectional pipe by a pair of channels. A pipe is made up of two channels: a sink channel that can be written to and a source channel that can be read from. After being posted to the sink channel, bytes can be read back from the source channel in the exact same sequence that they were written. A thread sending data to a pipe may block until another thread receives those bytes, or some previously-written bytes, from the pipe, although this is system-dependent and therefore unclear. A certain amount of buffering between the sink and source channels will be provided by many pipe implementations, but this should not be taken for granted.

Any of the following can be referred to as a pipe:

1. A pipe, when referring to computer memory, is a temporary segment of memory that can connect two or more processors to boost the computer's overall performance.
2. The cable that is utilized to send and receive sizable amounts of data for one or more users online is referred to as a pipe. An individual with a lot of bandwidth is referred to as having a "huge pipe" in slang, which is also used in the names of companies that offer Internet access, like FatPipe. More details are available on our backbone and trunk pages.
3. The pipe, often known as a vertical bar, is the shape of the "|" key on a computer keyboard. It is occasionally shown with a gap in it. The backslash key on the US QWERTY keyboard also contains this symbol.

On the keyboard, where is the pipe?

A screenshot of a computer keyboard is seen below, with the pipe key being highlighted in red. It's also not unusual for this key to be placed exactly above the Enter key and beneath the Backspace key.

How to build a pipe

How to add the | key to a US keyboard

The pipe and the backslash are situated on the same key English PC and Mac keyboards. It can be found below the Backspace key and above the Enter key (Return key). Shift and | work together to form a pipe when Shift is pressed and held down.

How to add the | symbol to a tablet or phone

On a tablet or smartphone, open the keyboard, select the symbols (sym) or numbers (123), followed by the (#+=) or (|) symbols, and press the appropriate key.

What function does a pipe serve on a computer?

Programming for computers

A boolean operator for OR is represented in programming by the double pipe "||". When one or more values or operands are satisfied, the OR operator, a Boolean operator, performs an operation or job. For instance, even if 1 + 1 does not equal 3, it is true that 1 + 1 equals 2 or that 1 + 1 equals 3. The pipe symbol is frequently used in place of the word "or" for languages or services that do not accept it as an operator.

A pipe being used as a delimiter

Additionally, it's usual practice to utilize one or more pipe characters as a text file delimiter. Characters that divide text strings into separate segments are known as delimiters. Commas, semicolons, quotes, braces, pipes, and slashes are all used as delimiters in writing. Each piece of data is delimited by a predefined character when it is stored sequentially or in tabular form by a program.

Separator for commands

The output of one command can be directed to the input of another by utilizing the pipe on the command line. The command line, also known as the Windows command line, the command screen, or the text interface, is a user interface that is accessed by typing commands at prompts rather than by using a mouse. A Windows command line might read "C:Windows>" to indicate the Windows folder, for instance. Depending on the shell, "%" or ">" may be used in Linux or Unix. A command line operating system does not use a mouse to navigate; instead, it uses the keyboard to enter commands. This is in contrast to a GUI (graphical user interface) operating system.

What else does the pipe key's symbol represent?

The pipe key and the backslash key, which may be displayed above or below the pipe symbol, share space on American keyboards. A screenshot of a computer keyboard is shown below, with the backslash key being highlighted in blue. It is also not unusual for this key to be placed directly above the Enter key and beneath the Backspace key.