Processes

Processes are a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. In the context of computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being executed. It contains the program code and its current activity. In biology, a process refers to a series of events that produce a change in a cell, tissue, organ, or organism. In business, a process is a series of tasks that lead to the delivery of a product or service to a customer.

Computing[edit | edit source]

In computing, a process is the instance of a computer program that is being executed by one or many threads. It contains the program code and its current activity. Depending on the operating system (OS), a process may be made up of multiple threads of execution that execute instructions concurrently.

Process States[edit | edit source]

A process in a computer system may be in one of the following states:

New: The process is being created.
Running: Instructions are being executed.
Waiting: The process is waiting for some event to occur.
Ready: The process is waiting to be assigned to a processor.
Terminated: The process has finished execution.

Biology[edit | edit source]

In biology, a process refers to a series of events that produce a change in a cell, tissue, organ, or organism. Biological processes are made up of many chemical reactions or other events that result in a transformation.

Biological Processes[edit | edit source]

Biological processes include:

Metabolism: The set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.
Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods with the aid of chlorophyll.
Respiration: The process in which organisms exchange gases between their body cells and the environment.

Business[edit | edit source]

In business, a process is a series of tasks that lead to the delivery of a product or service to a customer. Business processes are designed to add value for the customer and should not include unnecessary activities.

Business Process Management[edit | edit source]

Business Process Management (BPM) is a discipline in operations management that uses various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes.