Last week I wrote about the set of developer questions posted by Scott. Well, as promised, here are the first few that I’ve got through…
Q1. Describe the difference between a thread and a process
A1. A process is a container of threads (having a least one thread of execution). It has its own memory space. A process can have multiple threads that share the same memory space and program code. A thread is a single thread of execution.
Q2. What is a Windows Service and how does its lifecycle differ from a “standard” EXE?
A2. A Windows Service runs under the control of the SCM (Service Control Manager). They run in the background under the SYSTEM account and do not require interaction with a users desktop therefore they can run independently of a user (hence they do not require a user to be logged on for them to run). When the system boots any services marked as “automatic” are started and when Windows shutdowns they are terminated.
A standard EXE is invoked by a user post logon and runs under the security privileges of the current desktop user. A user may close the EXE at which point the program is terminated, otherwise the program is terminated at log off (which can occur without a shutdown).
OK, more of these later. In the mean time I’m developing my .NET product showcase site.
