Final answer:
A stream meant for general purpose IO and not textual data is known as a binary stream, suitable for handling various data types like images or videos.
Step-by-step explanation:
A stream that is intended for general purpose IO, not usually character data, is typically referred to as a binary stream. Unlike text streams, which are designed to handle textual data, binary streams are used for reading and writing binary data and can handle a variety of data types, including images, videos, and serialized objects. The use of binary streams is important for certain tasks, like file transfer, where preserving the exact binary representation of data is crucial.
A stream that is intended for general purpose IO, not usually character data, is called a binary stream.
In computer programming, a stream is a sequence of data elements that are handled in a sequential manner. A binary stream is used for reading and writing binary data, such as images or audio files, that do not have a specific character encoding.
For example, if you want to read a binary file in C++, you can use the ifstream class from the <iostream> library to create a binary input stream and then use the read function to read the binary data.