> I have a conference coming up in which I'm demoing a program. I want to
> touch on the concept of threads but the audience is particularly computer
> illiterate.
> Can anyone help me explain the concept of threads in a basic way?
"Over here, we have a man. The man is ostensibly sitting on the couch
watching rugby and drinking beer, but notice that he can't do both at the
same time. When he's drinking his beer, he will often miss an important
tackle or a particularly brilliant pass, and when the rugby gets really
exciting, his beer will remain untouched for seconds at a time. The man is a
SINGLE-TASKING PROCESS.
"Over *here*, we have a woman. Notice how the woman is able to do more than
one thing at once. For example, she can be doing the ironing, planning a
complex meal and sorting out the social lives of her three children, all at
the same time. The woman is a MULTI-TASKING PROCESS.
"Software should be more like a woman than a man. If your software is male
(i.e. single-tasking), it takes longer to execute and may be less
responsive. It also leaves the toilet seat up. If you have female, or
multi-tasking, software, particularly time-consuming tasks can be placed in
the "background", and the program will be faster and more responsive to the
user. One downside of multi-tasking, or threads, is that it can take up more
resources, but at least it gets rid of the smell."
:)
- The Other Matt (TM)
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mattpowe
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