Thread (computing)

In computer science, a thread of execution is the smallest sequence of programmed instructions that can be managed independently by a scheduler, which is typically a part of the operating system. The implementation of threads and processes differs between operating systems, but in most cases a thread is a component of a process. Multiple threads can exist within the same process, executing concurrently (one starting before others finish) and share resources such as memory, while different processes do not share these resources. In particular, the threads of a process share its instructions (executable code) and its context (the values of its variables at any given moment).

On a single processor, multithreading is generally implemented by time slicing (as in multitasking), and the central processing unit (CPU) switches between different software threads. This context switching generally happens frequently enough that the user perceives the threads or tasks as running at the same time (in parallel). On a multiprocessor or multi-core system, multiple threads can be executed in parallel (at the same instant), with every processor or core executing a separate thread simultaneously; on a processor or core with hardware threads, separate software threads can also be executed concurrently by separate hardware threads.