---
title: "Difference between a process and a thread"  
description: "Difference between a process and a thread"  
author: "Samuel Fernandes"  
published: 2015-04-08  
updated: 2015-04-08  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/23087/difference-between-a-process-and-a-thread  
category: "java"  
tags: ["java"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Difference between a process and a thread

What is the [technical](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12830/a-look-at-the-technical-features-and-specifications-of-type-c-hub) [difference between a process and a thread](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/23328/what-is-the-difference-between-a-process-and-a-thread)? I get the feeling a [word](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/305/read-word-file) like 'process' is over used and there is also [hardware](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/303100/best-pc-hardware-2023) and [software](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/311636/best-freelancing-websites-to-get-software-development-services) threads. How about [light](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1842/daylight-reproduces-more-accurately-by-the-leds-smart-lighting-system-based-on-quantum-dots)-[weight](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12951/the-importance-of-breakfast-in-weight-reduction) processes in [languages](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/1463/some-oldest-languages-in-the-world-still-spoken) like Erlang? Is there a definitive reason to use one term over the other?

## Replies

### Reply by Anonymous User

Both processes and threads are independent sequences of execution. The typical [difference](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/157114/good-news-or-bad-news-and-the-difference-is) is that threads (of the same [process](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/1525/7-important-factors-that-may-affect-the-learning-process)) run in a shared memory space, while processes run in separate memory spaces.

I'm not sure what "hardware" vs "software" threads might be referring to. Threads are an operating environment feature, rather than a CPU feature (though the CPU typically has operations that make threads efficient).

Erlang uses the term "process" because it does not expose a shared-memory multiprogramming model. Calling them "threads" would imply that they have shared memory.


---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/23087/difference-between-a-process-and-a-thread

Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.