Question: How are devices represented in UNIX?

Answer: All devices are represented by files called special files that are located in/dev directory.
Thus, device files and other files are named and accessed in the same way. A 'regular file'
is just an ordinary data file in the disk. A 'block special file' represents a device with
characteristics similar to a disk (data transfer in terms of blocks). A 'character special file'
represents a device with characteristics similar to a keyboard (data transfer is by stream of
bits in sequential order).