I guess what I'm looking for is a function that returns right away even if there's no input at the time. What's the cross-platform or *nix-flavored alternative to Microsoft's OVERLAPPED system?

Techne, Tomas, and Anya learn how computers “talk” with us through input and output.

Check your understanding Function notation A function takes an input value, applies a rule to it, and produces an output value. This can be demonstrated using a function machine.

Figure 5 Parallel input and output loops are shown in a symmetrical “butterfly” layout. Source: Texas Instruments Software tool use considerations To correctly specify input capacitors for buck DC/DC ...