I’ve always been confused with buffer for I’ve heard the term in many realms including programming (nodejs) and operating systems; plus, “buffering” in video players.
So, is it the same “buffer” everywhere? I mean is it a standard of some kind because it’s been used in many technologies related to computer science.
In: Technology
Buffering is a *technique*, not one specific place in the computer.
Here’s the an example. Before a video player starts displaying a movie, it gathers up several seconds worth. This way, if the internet pauses for a little while, the player can keep showing the movie without a pause. When you see a “buffering” message in the middle of playing a video, that means that the internet got so slow that the player ran out of video to display. A smart player might notice that 10 seconds (or whatever) of buffered video wasn’t enough, given how flaky the internet is at this location is, so maybe it’ll bump up the buffer to 20 or 30 seconds.
If the internet is simply too slow to show the movie, then buffering won’t fix it. Instead, the player might need to download the whole thing before showing it. But often the average internet speed is faster than needed to show the movie, but it runs slower sometimes and faster sometimes. That’s where buffering can help.
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