High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In computing an event is an action that is usually initiated outside the scope of a program and that is handled by a piece of code inside the program. Typically events are handled synchronous with the program flow, that is, the program has one or more dedicated places where events are handled. Typical sources of events include the user (who presses a key on the keyboard, in other words, through a keystroke). Another source is a hardware device such as a timer. A computer program that changes its behavior in response to events is said to be event-driven, often with the goal of being interactive.