Multithreading

The content on this page originated on Wikipedia and is yet to be significantly improved. Contributors are invited to replace and add material to make this an original article.

Multithreading is a feature of modern computer hardware and software that allow independent multiple threads to appear to run at the same time. The operating system gives each thread a time slice, then suspends the thread and allows a different thread to run. This allows for greater flexibility and in programs and higher responsiveness of the computer as a whole. For example, a program that performs a lengthy operation can do so in a separate worker thread while the main thread can continue to take in more user input or provide progress reports on the background thread's progress.