Understanding Programs, Processes, and Threads

Computers deal in binary values, meaning that a specific binary digit (a bit) is either on (representing a value of one) or off (representing a value of zero). At its core, a computer consists of storage and a processor. Storage provides a place to hold a series of zeros and ones, and a processor is able to perform a finite number of specific operations that are built into its circuitry. A computer follows a series of instructions that tell it what values to store and retrieve from its storage locations (such as RAM or hard disk space) and what operations to perform. Such a set of instructions is called a program.

Each computer’s processor knows how to perform a particular set of operations based ...

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