port

The three types of communications port in a microcomputer. The USB port transmits data at a faster rate than a serial or parallel port.

In computing, a socket that enables a computer processor to communicate with an external device. It may be an input port (such as a joystick port), or an output port (such as a printer port), or both (an i/o port).

Microcomputers may provide ports for cartridges, televisions and/or monitors, printers, and modems, and sometimes for hard disks and musical instruments (MIDI, the musical-instrument digital interface). Ports may be serial or parallel.