Multitasking

Category: Foundations · Status: stub

One line: An operating system or runtime running several tasks over the same period by switching between them — by force (preemptive) or when a task gives way (cooperative).

How it connects

flowchart LR
  n_context_switch["Context switch"]
  n_multitasking["Multitasking"]
  n_multitasking -->|uses| n_context_switch
  classDef center stroke-width:3px
  class n_multitasking center
  classDef outside stroke-dasharray: 4 3
  class n_context_switch outside

• Is built on: Context switch
• See also: Concurrency, Cooperative scheduling, Preemptive scheduling

In each language

The operating system	sched(7) ↗: Linux decides which thread runs next by scheduling policy and priority, and preempts the one running

Where to read more

• In the books: Grokking Concurrency, Kirill Bobrov — ch. 6, 'Multitasking'
• In the books: Asynchronous Programming in Rust, Carl Fredrik Samson — ch. 1, 'Concurrency and Asynchronous Programming: a Detailed Overview' → 'An evolutionary journey of multitasking'
• In the books: Python Concurrency with asyncio, Matthew Fowler — ch. 1, 'Getting to know asyncio' → 'Understanding concurrency, parallelism, and multitasking'
• In the books: Systems Programming in Unix/Linux, K. C. Wang — ch. 3, 'Process Management in Unix/Linux' → 'Multitasking'
• Notes: Multitasking - general ↗
• Reference: Wikipedia: Computer multitasking ↗