Leaf driver refers to a device driver

Device driver

In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....

 that accesses logically or physically existent devices on an I/O bus, and implements the functions defined for the device, such as transferring data to or from the device or accessing device registers.

Leaf devices (those requiring leaf drivers) are typical peripheral

Peripheral

A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture....

 devices such as disks

Disk storage

Disk storage or disc storage is a general category of storage mechanisms, in which data are digitally recorded by various electronic, magnetic, optical, or mechanical methods on a surface layer deposited of one or more planar, round and rotating disks...

, tapes

Tapes

Tapes is a small city in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, near to Porto Alegre. It's good for sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing....

, network

Computer network

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....

 adapters, Framebuffer

Framebuffer

A framebuffer is a video output device that drives a video display from a memory buffer containing a complete frame of data.The information in the memory buffer typically consists of color values for every pixel on the screen...

, and so forth. Drivers for these devices export the traditional character

Character (computing)

In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language....

 and block

Block (data storage)

In computing , a block is a sequence of bytes or bits, having a nominal length . Data thus structured are said to be blocked. The process of putting data into blocks is called blocking. Blocking is used to facilitate the handling of the data-stream by the computer program receiving the data...

 driver interfaces

Interface (computer science)

In the field of computer science, an interface is a tool and concept that refers to a point of interaction between components, and is applicable at the level of both hardware and software...

 for use by user processes to read and write data to storage or communication devices.

See also Nexus driver

Nexus driver

The term nexus driver refers to a bus driver which interfaces leaf drivers to a specific I/O bus and provides the low-level integration of this I/O bus....

.