What is a FIFO in unix?

Question

Hello
What is a FIFO in unix?
please reply me. i am waiting for your reply.
Thanx

Answer 1

FIFO are otherwise called as 'named pipes'. FIFO (first-in-first-out) is a special file which is said to be data transient. Once data is read from named pipe, it cannot be read again. Also, data can be read only in the order written. It is used in interprocess communication where a process writes to one end of the pipe (producer) and the other reads from the other end (consumer).

Answer 2

fifo - first-in first-out special file, named pipe  
A FIFO special file (a named pipe) is similar to a pipe, except that it is accessed as part of the file system. It can be opened by multiple processes for reading or writing. When processes are exchanging data via the FIFO, the kernel passes all data internally without writing it to the file system. Thus, the FIFO special file has no contents on the file system, the file system entry merely serves as a reference point so that processes can access the pipe using a name in the file system.