2.1.5 Thinking Concurrently

• Concurrently means 'at the same time'
• • Concurrent processing is about using a computer to implement concurrent thinking
  • several computations are carried out simultaneously
• Benefits of concurrent processing

  • More tasks completed in same time frame, useful for graphics processing
  • Processor time used more effectively: program can complete other tasks while waiting for another process to complete
• Downside of Thinking Concurrently

  • May be delays while other parts of the program complete
  • Some problems cannot be broken down into tasks which can be completed simultaneously
  • overhead in coordinating and switching between processes