device driver

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

device driver
    n 1: (computer science) a program that determines how a computer
         will communicate with a peripheral device [syn: {driver},
         {device driver}]

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

device driver

   <operating system> {Software} to control a hardware component
   or {peripheral} device of a computer such as a {magnetic
   disk}, {magnetic tape} or printer.

   A device driver is responsible for accessing the hardware
   {registers} of the device and often includes an {interrupt
   handler} to service interrupts generated by the device.

   Device drivers often form part of the lowest level of the
   {operating system} {kernel}, with which they are linked when
   the kernel is built.  Some more recent systems have loadable
   device drivers which can be installed from files after the
   {operating system} is running.

   (1994-10-27)