Threads And Concurrency Questions Medium
A process can be defined as an instance of a program that is being executed by a computer system. It consists of a complete set of instructions, data, and resources required for its execution. Each process has its own memory space, file descriptors, and system resources. Processes are independent entities and do not share memory or resources with other processes.
On the other hand, a thread is a lightweight unit of execution within a process. It can be considered as a subset of a process. Threads share the same memory space and resources of the process they belong to. Multiple threads within a process can execute concurrently, allowing for parallelism and improved performance. Threads can communicate with each other through shared memory, making it easier to share data and synchronize their execution.
In summary, the main difference between a process and a thread is that a process is a complete instance of a program with its own memory and resources, while a thread is a unit of execution within a process that shares the same memory and resources with other threads of the same process. Processes are independent and isolated, whereas threads are lightweight and can communicate and synchronize with each other.