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Introduction
Program and process are often considered to be related terms since a program is a set of instructions to perform a specific task, and a process is a program in execution.
To illustrate, the web browser is a computer program (a file with the.exe extension) that contains some code (a set of instructions) that allows you to open the web browser and surf the internet. However, if you double-click the browser icon to open it, a process begins and it opens the browser window. Another process will begin if you open another window. It implies that several processes can be linked to the same program.
Now let’s understand these two and the difference between them in detail:
A program is a set of instructions given to a computer to perform a particular task. It is an executable file with specific instructions to achieve a programming goal. For example, Microsoft Word is a word processing program that allows users to work on documents. Similarly, music players, web browsers, and computer games are computer programs that have specific tasks to perform.
Typically computer programs are never stored on the primary memory of the computer. They get stored on secondary memory or disk. It is so because they need to be stored and are static until execution starts. They are read from the primary memory and executed by the kernel(OS) at the time of execution.
A program is created using some programming language, and we refer to our language statements as the source program. The written code is compiled by a language compiler( a specific program to convert high-level code to machine code) to convert it into compiled code. The compiled code, also called object program or object module, is a string of 0s and 1s, machine language code, on which the computer processor works.
Features of a Program
A computer program is a passive entity; it cannot perform any action without running. It needs to be executed.
A program has a longer lifespan as it is a set of instructions stored on the disk.
The operating system allocates memory to store program instructions.
Multiple processes can be related to a single program.
What is a process?
A process is an execution of a program. It refers to a set of instructions currently being processed by the computer processor. A computer has multiple processes running to help manage the OS, its hardware, and software. For example, a process can be a program to monitor the date and time of your PC. The active running process can be seen by opening the 'Processes' Tab in Task Manager.
Creation of a Process
We know that during the execution of a program, a process is created, and it gets terminated after completing the execution. We can even create a process within the program if we want to schedule a different task for it. This is done by process creating through thefork() system call. The newly created process is called the child process, and the process that initiated it is called the parent process. After the job is done the child process gets terminated automatically, or you can terminate it if needed.
Features of a Process
A process is an active entity since it is a running instance of a computer program.
A process has a short lifespan, and it gets terminated after completing the task.
A process can generate one or more child processes, and created processes have information about their parent processes, allocated memory, privileges, etc.
A process contains resources like memory address, disk, printer, etc.
What is the difference between process and program?
A program is a set of instructions or code written to perform a specific task, while a process is an instance of a program running in a computer's memory, with its own memory space and execution state.
What is difference between program and programme?
"Program" is the preferred spelling in American English, while "programme" is more commonly used in British English. Both refer to a set of instructions or a planned series of activities.
What is the difference between a processor and a process?
A processor, also known as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), is the hardware component that executes instructions in a computer. A process, on the other hand, is a software entity representing a running program in memory, managed by the operating system.
Which program is called process?
Any program that is currently running in a computer's memory is called a process. Each process has its own memory space, execution state, and resources allocated by the operating system.
Conclusion
This article has discussed the difference between Program and Process. These differences offer fundamental insights into how computers execute instructions. While a program represents a set of instructions stored on disk, a process embodies the execution of those instructions in memory.
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