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Hardware abstraction
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<p> Hardware abstractions are sets of routines in <a href="/facts/Computer_software/RP79lVSW">software</a> that provide programs with access to <a href="/facts/Computer_hardware/8jSjsCNv">hardware</a> resources through programming interfaces. The programming interface allows all devices in a particular class <i>C</i> of hardware devices to be accessed through identical interfaces even though <i>C</i> may contain different subclasses of devices that each provide a different hardware interface. </p><p>Hardware abstractions often allow programmers to write <a href="/facts/Computer_hardware/8jSjsCNv">device</a>-independent, high performance applications by providing standard <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a> (OS) calls to hardware. The process of <a href="/facts/Abstraction_(computer_science)/hAnxmJle">abstracting</a> pieces of hardware is often done from the perspective of a <a href="/facts/Central_processing_unit/Jxp1bqMV">CPU</a>. Each type of CPU has a specific <a href="/facts/Instruction_set_architecture/8p8vwUeE">instruction set architecture</a> or ISA. The ISA represents the primitive operations of the machine that are available for use by <a href="/facts/Assembly_language/7XuV0cla">assembly</a> programmers and compiler writers. One of the main functions of a <a href="/facts/Compiler/WNfCDFJe">compiler</a> is to allow a programmer to write an algorithm in a <a href="/facts/High-level_language/smjECUhx">high-level language</a> without having to care about CPU-specific instructions. Then it is the job of the compiler to generate a CPU-specific executable. The same type of abstraction is made in operating systems, but OS <a href="/facts/API/GMlN4vUr">APIs</a> now represent the primitive operations of the machine, rather than an ISA. This allows a programmer to use OS-level operations (e.g. task creation/deletion) in their programs while retaining <a href="/facts/Software_portability/tWKVGCBb">portability</a> over a variety of different platforms. </p>