Multitasker

In computing, multitasking is a concept of performing multiple tasks (also known as processes) over a certain period of time by executing them concurrently. New tasks start and interrupt already started ones before they have reached completion, instead of executing the tasks sequentially so each started task needs to reach its end before a new one is started. As a result, a computer executes segments of multiple tasks in an interleaved manner, while the tasks share common processing resources such as central processing units (CPUs) and main memory.

Multitasking does not necessarily mean that multiple tasks are executing at exactly the same time (simultaneously). In other words, multitasking does not imply parallel execution, but it does mean that more than one task can be part-way through execution at the same time, and that more than one task is advancing over a given period of time. Even on multiprocessor or multicore computers, which have multiple CPUs/cores so more than one task can be executed at once (physically, one per CPU or core), multitasking allows many more tasks to be run than there are CPUs.

In the case of a computer with a single CPU, only one task is said to be running at any point in time, meaning that the CPU is actively executing instructions for that task. Multitasking solves the problem by scheduling which task may be the one running at any given time, and when another waiting task gets a turn. The act of reassigning a CPU from one task to another one is called a context switch; the illusion of parallelism is achieved when context switches occur frequently enough. Operating systems may adopt one of many different scheduling strategies, which generally fall into the following categories:

The term "multitasking" has become an international term, as the same word is used in many other languages such as German, Italian, Dutch, Danish and Norwegian.

In the early days of computing, CPU time was expensive, and peripherals were very slow. When the computer ran a program that needed access to a peripheral, the central processing unit (CPU) would have to stop executing program instructions while the peripheral processed the data. This was usually very inefficient.

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