In Linux, a process and a thread are two fundamental concepts related to executing programs, but they have distinct characteristics and purposes:
Process:
A process can be seen as an instance of a program running on the operating system.
Each process has its own memory space and resources, including a separate address space, file descriptors, environment variables, and an independent execution flow.
Processes are isolated from each other and communicate through inter-process communication mechanisms such as pipes, signals, or sockets.
Processes are heavyweight entities and incur more overhead to create and manage due to their independent resources and execution contexts.
Each process has a unique process identifier (PID) assigned by the operating system.
Thread:
A thread, on the other hand, is a subset of a process, representing a single flow of execution within that process.
Threads share the same memory space, file descriptors, environment variables, and other process resources.
Threads within a process can communicate directly through shared memory, reducing the need for complex inter-process communication mechanisms.
Threads are lightweight compared to processes, requiring fewer system resources to create and manage.
Threads within a process share the same process identifier (PID).
In summary, processes are independent program instances that run in separate memory spaces, while threads are lightweight execution units within a process that share the same memory space and resources. Threads can be seen as "mini processes" that are part of a larger program, allowing for concurrent and parallel execution within a single process.
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