On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 22:04:33 +0100, Jenda Krynicky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Something like that. 1024 is one K. So 8*1024 is 8KB. > > I don't know what the size of a block is when reading from the > particular disk storing that file, but the block size is usualy some > power of 2 in KB. 2KB, 4KB, 8KB, 16KB, 32KB. It would of course be > most efficient if I was reading the file in chunks equal to the block > size, but 8KB seems to me like a reasonable guess. PMFJI =) I would like to think that high-level programmers simply read and write $strings, @arrays, etc, and allow the under-lying OpSys (XP, Solaris, FC3, etc) to worry about the file access methods. Operating systems can access data at whatever speed the filesystem format (Ext2, Ext3, Reiser, Quorums, Raids, Fly-swatter) would allow without people generally having to worry about sectors, blocks, etc. If the data you want, say on a Tape, or is on another "truly" blocked device -- then maybe you can gain speed by worrying about low-level things. Historically, really fast disks and a LOT of RAM equal fast data processing. -- WC -Sx- Jones http://youve-reached-the.endoftheinternet.org/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://learn.perl.org/> <http://learn.perl.org/first-response>
