Editing Typeahead

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'''Typeahead''' is a feature of [[computer]]s and [[software]] (and some [[typewriter]]s) that enables users to continue typing regardless of program or computer operation—the user may type in whatever speed is desired, and if the receiving software is busy at the time it will be called to handle this later.<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Butterfield |editor1-first=Andrew |editor2-last=Ngondi |editor2-first=Gerard Ekembe |editor3-last=Kerr |editor3-first=Anne |encyclopedia=A Dictionary of Computer Science |title=typeahead |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199688975.001.0001/acref-9780199688975-e-5571 |access-date=November 22, 2019 |language=en |edition=7 |year=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199688975 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199688975.001.0001|url-access=subscription }}
</ref> Often this means that keystrokes entered will not be displayed on the screen immediately. This programming technique for handling uses what is known as a [[keyboard buffer]].

Typeahead has its roots in the age of typewriters. The [[IBM Selectric typewriter]], first released in 1961, had a mechanical key lockout feature designed to smooth out typists' irregular keystrokes<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Selectric Typewriter Operating Instructions |url=https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/IBMSelectricI.pdf |publisher=IBM |date=1967}}</ref> that, to many users, felt like typeahead.

Achieving true typeahead requires maintaining a so-called "typeahead [[data buffer|buffer]]"—a [[FIFO (computing and electronics)|FIFO]] queue, for instance—whose role it is to store a limited amount of [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]] input until it is called for. Installing such a buffer can be done at both the hardware and the [[software]] levels; most modern operating systems, such as [[Unix]], implement this using software, calling [[Kernel (operating system)|kernel]] [[interrupt]]s.

In some [[computer network|network]] operations, one might attempt to dispatch information over a network, regardless whether the receiving program manages to keep up, using the recipient's typeahead functions. However, as this is far too reliant on the specifications of the computer with which one is communicating, it is not often used.

==See also==

* [[Autocomplete]], where the computer predicts the remainder of a command

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Typing]]
[[Category:User interface techniques]]