1. <
messaging> A file belonging to a particular user on a
particular computer in which received
electronic mail
messages are stored ready for the user to read them. A
mailbox may be just an
electronic mail address to which
messages are sent and may not actually correspond to a file if
the messages are processed automatically, e.g. a
mail server
or
mailing list.
2. <
programming> A destination for interprocess messages in a
message passing system. A
mailbox is a
message queue,
usually stored in the memory of the processor on which the
receiving process is running.
Primitives are provided for
sending a message to a named
mailbox and for reading messages
from a
mailbox.
(1994-10-20)