The Runtime Theory

Process vs Thread at a Glance

Visual comparison of processes and threads: memory isolation, creation cost, communication, and failure boundaries.

The Runtime Theory Team05 stages

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PROCESSTHREADMEMORY ISOLATIONCREATION COSTCOMMUNICATION

readyAn independent program with its own memory space, file descriptors, and kernel state. Created via fork(). Memory isolation is hardware-enforced by the MMU.

Process vs Thread at a Glance

This diagram compares processes and threads across five dimensions.

Quick Reference

DimensionProcessThread
MemorySeparate address spaceShared address space
Creationfork() / exec() — expensiveclone() — cheap
CommunicationIPC (pipes, shared memory)Shared variables (needs locks)
Crash impactIsolated — others surviveAll threads in the process crash
OS overheadPCB + page tables per processOnly a stack + TCB per thread

Read: What Is a Process? · Interview: Process vs Thread

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