What is windowing in digital filters and what is its use ?

In signal processing, a window function (also known as an apodization function or tapering function) is a mathematical function that is zero-valued outside of some chosen interval. For instance, a function that is constant inside the interval and zero elsewhere is called a rectangular window, which describes the shape of its graphical representation. When another function or waveform/data-sequence is multiplied by a window function, the product is also zero-valued outside the interval: all that is left is the part where they overlap, the "view through the window".

In typical applications, the window functions used are non-negative, smooth, "bell-shaped" curves, Rectangle, triangle, and other functions can also be used.

Windows are sometimes used in the design of digital filters, in particular to convert an "ideal" impulse response of infinite duration, such as a sinc function, to a finite impulse response (FIR) filter design. That is called the window method.