Program:

• It is a passive entity, it’s a static object that can exist in a file.
• It contains the instructions or an algorithm to be executed.
• A program exists in a single space and continues to exist as time goes forward.

Process:

• It is a dynamic entity that is a program under execution in main memory is called process.
• It is a sequence of instructions under execution.
• A process exists in a limited period time.

Example:

main()
{
   int i, prod =1;
   for( i =0;i <100; i++)
      prod = prod * i
}     
   

Here program contains one multiplication( prod = prod * i) where as a process executes 100 multiplications that is for each loop.

Difference between a Process and a Program:

Related Posts:

• Sections of a process
• States of a process
• Process Data structure (PCB)
• Attributes of a process
• Context switching
• Termination of a process

Categories: Operating system (OS)