.TH null "" "" "Device Driver"
.PC "The \*(Qlbit bucket\*(Qr"
.PP
.II "/dev/null"
.II "bit bucket"
.II "kernel^bit bucket"
.II "driver^bit bucket"
.II "device driver^bit bucket"
All data written to the special file
.B /dev/null
are thrown away (sent to the ``bit bucket'').
This is useful, for example, when you wish to test a program's side effects
while ignoring its output.
.PP
A read from file
.B /dev/null
returns end of file (zero bytes of data).
The shell
.B sh
uses
.B /dev/null
as input to background processes.
.SH Files
.B /dev/null
.SH "See Also"
.Xr "device drivers," device_dr
.Xr "idle," idle
.Xr "ksh," ksh
.Xr "sh" sh

