Parallel port, or Parallel interface refers to a standard 25 pin (D25) connector still found on some PCs, commonly used for connecting a printer or other device.

A standard parallel port transmits 8 data bits at a time, as opposed to a serial port which transmits data one bit at a time.

Due to the speed advantage (up to around 150KBps a second) over the serial port, parallel ports were (and still are in certain cases) used for printers and even small networks.

ECP (Extended Capability Port) and EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port) were both implementations of the parallel standard. They both offered faster data transfer (up to 2Mb/sec) compared to the standard parallel interface.

USB interfaces have superseded the parallel port for connecting printers and other peripherals to modern computers, although there are still some peripherals which require a parallel port.

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