Definition: A stream is an important concept in modern programming. Earlier programming languages such as Fortran, Cobol and Basic had input and output built in to those languages.
Modern languages like C, C++ and C# tend to avoid having this and instead implement input and output via library functions. Output involves sending a stream of byte to a device and whether that device is the screen, an object in memory, a file on disk, another computer on a network or a printer is unimportant. The same routines can be used with different destinations. In earlier languages you needed separate routines to handle each device. Streams make this flexibility possible.
Glossary:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZExamples: Many input devices support streams, e.g. disks, and communication devices.
