Process vs Thread: What’s the difference?
The running of a programme is what we mean when we talk about a process because it enables us to carry out the tasks that are outlined in the software. It is possible to define it as an execution unit, which is the location where a programme is carried out. The operating system provides assistance in the creation, scheduling, and termination of the processes that are utilised by the CPU. The name given to the subprocesses that are produced by the primary process is “child process.”
Controlling the activities of a process is made more simpler with the assistance of PCB (Process Control Block). You might think of it as the “brain” of the process because it stores all of the essential data associated with processing, such as the process id, the priority, the status, and the contents of the CPU register, among other things.
What is Thread?
A component of a process known as an execution unit is called a thread. It’s possible for a process to have several threads, all of which can run concurrently. Within the context of concurrent programming, it refers to a unit of execution. A thread is an extremely lightweight component that can be controlled by a scheduler on its own. You can boost the performance of the programme by utilising parallelism with its support.
Multiple threads collaborate to share resources like as data, code, and files, among other things. There are three distinct ways that we can put threads into action:
Properties of Process
Discussions initiated by users
The use of hybrid threads
Characteristics of the Procedure
The following are the essential characteristics of the process:
Properties of Thread
Calls to the system must be made individually for each new process in order for them to be created.
It is a separate execution entity that does not collaborate with other entities to share data or information.
The IPC (Inter-Process Communication) method is used for communication between processes; nevertheless, this results in a large rise in the number of system calls.
More system calls are required for process management.
The stack, the heap memory, and the data map are the three components that make up a process.
Important aspects of thread include the following, which are all attributes of thread:
Difference between Process and Thread
Here, are the important differences between Process and Thread
| Parameter | Process | Thread |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Process means a program is in execution. | Thread means a segment of a process. |
| Lightweight | The process is not Lightweight. | Threads are Lightweight. |
| Termination time | The process takes more time to terminate. | The thread takes less time to terminate. |
| Creation time | It takes more time for creation. | It takes less time for creation. |
| Communication | Communication between processes needs more time compared to thread. | Communication between threads requires less time compared to processes. |
| Context switching time | It takes more time for context switching. | It takes less time for context switching. |
| Resource | Process consume more resources. | Thread consume fewer resources. |
| Treatment by OS | Different process are tread separately by OS. | All the level peer threads are treated as a single task by OS. |
| Memory | The process is mostly isolated. | Threads share memory. |
| Sharing | It does not share data | Threads share data with each other. |
Multiple threads can be created from a single system call if necessary.
Data and information are passed between threads.
The instruction, global, and heap areas are all shared between threads. Nevertheless, it possesses its own register and stack.
Due to the fact that shared memory enables communication between different threads, thread management requires an extremely low number of system calls or none at all.
What is Multithreading?
The term “multithreading” refers to the practise of running many threads of code simultaneously inside of an operating system. In layman’s words, this means that two or more threads of the same process are running at the same time.