Advanced Python Programming

Threads versus processes

More than one thread can be implemented within the same process, most often executing concurrently and accessing/sharing the same resources, such as memory; separate processes do not do this. Threads in the same process share the latter's instructions (its code) and context (the values that its variables reference at any given moment).

The key difference between the two concepts is that a thread is typically a component of a process. Therefore, one process can include multiple threads, which can be executing simultaneously. Threads also usually allow for shared resources, such as memory and data, while it is fairly rare for processes to do so. In short, a thread is an independent component of computation that is similar ...