File descriptor (source code)

= File descriptor

A nonnegative <integer> identifying an open access in one <operating-system process>. The program passes its value to operations such as reading and closing; the <operating-system kernel> interprets it through that <operating-system process>'s descriptor table. In the toy example, table entry `3` refers to an <open file description> for <inode> 42. Another <operating-system process>'s entry `3` can reach a different <file>, and a closed <file descriptor> value can be reused. https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/file-intro.pdf[Arpaci-Dusseau and Arpaci-Dusseau, OSTEP chapter 39, section 39.3: per-process file descriptors]{ref}