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What is the difference between a process and a thread?

Q: What is the difference between a process and a thread?

A process is an isolated program execution with its own virtual memory, file descriptors, and PID. A thread is a lightweight unit of execution inside a process sharing the same address space.Threads are cheaper to create and switch; processes give stronger isolation. Mention context switches, GIL (Python), and when to prefer thread pools vs worker processes.

Fundamental OS question for Google L3 / university grad screens.

Role: L3 / New grad
Location: Remote
Study track: Java

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A process is an isolated program execution with its own virtual memory, file descriptors, and PID. A thread is a lightweight unit of execution inside a process sharing the same address space.

Threads are cheaper to create and switch; processes give stronger isolation. Mention context switches, GIL (Python), and when to prefer thread pools vs worker processes.

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