Processes and Threads: A Quick Reminder

In earlier posts, we spent some time exploring OS cache hierarchies and storage device latencies. But all of that really clicks when we consider processing power.

A computer is, after all, a system that takes input data and produces output data. All these latencies exist to ensure the processor can read and write data efficiently.

In this excellent blog, Ben Dickens explains processes and threads with fantastic visualizations. Reading it makes you want to revisit topics like ARM64 instructions, FLOPS, and how assemblers generate binaries, and also helps make sense of context switching and time slicing in an operating system.

It also includes some interesting insights I didn’t know before, like how Postgres handles connections differently from MySQL. Definitely worth a read.