ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Ralf Brown's Interrupt List

Ralf Brown's Interrupt List is like a big book or a website where you can find lots of information about different things that your computer can do.

You know how your mom or dad can give you a command that you have to follow? Well, your computer can get commands or requests too, and they come from different parts of your computer or from things that you attach to your computer like a keyboard, a printer, or a mouse.

When your computer gets one of these requests, it uses something called an "interrupt" to stop what it's doing and focus on the new request. Think of an interrupt as a "Hey, listen to me now!" shout that stops the computer from what it's doing and pays attention to the new thing that needs to be done.

Now, Ralf Brown's Interrupt List is like a helpful guidebook that tells your computer what to do when it gets an interrupt. It tells the computer how to understand and respond to requests so that everything works correctly.

So, if your computer gets an interrupt from your keyboard, the Interrupt List helps your computer know what to do with that signal. It's like telling your computer, "Hey, this is a keyboard signal, and here's how to understand it and respond to it."

Overall, Ralf Brown's Interrupt List is like a dictionary for your computer, helping it respond to different requests that it receives in the best way possible.