IEEE-488 is a short-range digital communications bus specification. It was created in the late 1960s for use with automated test equipment, and is still in use for that purpose. IEEE-488 was created as HP-IB (Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus), and is commonly called GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus). It has been the subject of several standards.
Read more about IEEE-488: Origins, Standards, Characteristics, Capabilities, Use As A Computer Interface, Advantages and Disadvantages