process (computing)

In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being sequentially executed. While a program itself is just a passive collection of instructions, a process is the actual execution of those instructions. Several processes may be associated with the same program - each would execute independently (multithreading - where each thread represents a process), either synchronously (sequentially) or asynchronously (in  parallel). Modern computer systems allow multiple programs and processes to be loaded into memory at the same time and, through time-sharing (or multitasking), give an appearance that they are being executed at the same time (concurrently) even if there is just one processor. Similarly, using a multithreading OS and/or computer architecture, parallel processes of the same program may actually execute simultaneously (on different CPUs) on a multiple CPU machine or network.
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