Difference Between Program and Process
Program | Process |
---|---|
Program contains a set of instructions designed to complete a specific task. | Process is an instance of an executing program. |
Program is a passive entity as it resides in the secondary memory. | Process is a active entity as it is created during execution and loaded into the main memory. |
Program exists at a single place and continues to exist until it is deleted. | Process exists for a limited span of time as it gets terminated after the completion of task. |
Program is a static entity. | Process is a dynamic entity. |
Program does not have any resource requirement, it only requires memory space for storing the instructions. | Process has a high resource requirement, it needs resources like CPU, memory address, I/O during its lifetime. |
Program does not have any control block. | Process has its own control block called Process Control Block. |
Program has two logical components: code and data. | In addition to program data, a process also requires additional information required for the management and execution. |
Program does not change itself. | Many processes may execute a single program. There program code may be the same but program data may be different. these are never same. |
Program contains instructions | Process is a sequence of instruction execution. |
Difference between Program and Process
In this article, we will understand the difference between the program and process in the operating system. But before learning the differences, we will need to know about the process and program in the operating system.