print buffer

An area of computer memory where data to be printed is held until the printer is ready to print it. It enables a program to continue operating without waiting for each character to be printed, as it can send its data to the buffer. The buffer is normally managed by the operating system. When a printer, which works much slower than a computer, is ready to print the next data, it can signal this by means of an interrupt to the operating system. The operating system will remove the data from the buffer and send it to the printer.