Process

A series of systematic sequence of steps or actions that result in a deliverable. A process consumes resources aka "input" and produces a deliverable aka "output."

• Each step can be called a stage, phase, or procedure
• Changing the sequence of steps will result in a different deliverable
• Steps can execute in parallel

The two important things in a process are: steps, and deliverable. A step itself is a series of actions that produces a deliverable which is used by the next step in a process. A deliverable is "something" of value - a component part, piece of software, tool, template etc. The boundaries of a process, therefore, are arbitrary - where one draws a line can be driven by factors such as time, and organizational unit.

A process may refer to any of the following:

• 1. A process or running process refers to a set of instructions currently being processed by the computer processor.

For example, in Windows you can see each of the processes running by opening the Processes tab in Task Manager. Windows Processes are Windows Services and background programs you normally don't see running on the computer. A process may be a printer program that runs in the background and monitors the ink levels and other printer settings while the computer is running. A typical computer has dozens of processes running all of the time to help manage the operating system, its hardware, and the software running on the computer.

• 2. Process is also the act of manipulating, altering, or viewing data.
• 3. In general, process refers to a set of predetermined rules in place that must be followed.

In UNIX and some other operating systems, a process is started when a program is initiated (either by a user entering a shell command or by another program). Like a task, a process is a running program with which a particular set of data is associated so that the process can be kept track of. An application that is being shared by multiple users will generally have one process at some stage of execution for each user. A process can initiate a subprocess, which is a called a child process (and the initiating process is sometimes referred to as its parent ). A child process is a replica of the parent process and shares some of its resources, but cannot exist if the parent is terminated. Processes can exchange information or synchronize their operation through several methods of interprocess communication ( IPC ).

Since most operating systems have many background tasks running, your computer is likely to have many more processes running than actual programs. This can be anything from a small background task, such as a spell-checker or system events handler to a full-blown application like Internet Explorer or Microsoft Word. For example, you may only have three programs running, but there may be twenty active processes. You can view active processes in Windows by opening the Task Manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and click Task Manager). On a Mac, you can see active processes by opening Activity Monitor (in the Applications→Utilities folder). The term "process" can also be used as a verb, which means to perform a series of operations on a set of data. For example, your computer's CPU processes information sent to it by various programs. All processes are composed of one or more threads.