(libc.info.gz) Buffering Concepts

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(libc.info.gz) Stream Buffering

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 12.20.1 Buffering Concepts
 --------------------------
 
 There are three different kinds of buffering strategies:
 
    * Characters written to or read from an "unbuffered" stream are
      transmitted individually to or from the file as soon as possible.
 
    * Characters written to a "line buffered" stream are transmitted to
      the file in blocks when a newline character is encountered.
 
    * Characters written to or read from a "fully buffered" stream are
      transmitted to or from the file in blocks of arbitrary size.
 
    Newly opened streams are normally fully buffered, with one exception:
 a stream connected to an interactive device such as a terminal is
 initially line buffered.   Controlling Buffering, for information
 on how to select a different kind of buffering.  Usually the automatic
 selection gives you the most convenient kind of buffering for the file
 or device you open.
 
    The use of line buffering for interactive devices implies that output
 messages ending in a newline will appear immediately--which is usually
 what you want.  Output that doesn't end in a newline might or might not
 show up immediately, so if you want them to appear immediately, you
 should flush buffered output explicitly with 'fflush', as described in
  Flushing Buffers.
 

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(libc.info.gz) Stream Buffering

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