Talk:Task (computing)

Definition seems lacking and confusing as it stands. Also note the link from threads (computer context) to "task" is the wiki entry to the term task in its generic form. It may be better to point it to the "Task (computers)"

• The link from threads seems to have been fixed. Agreed that we're not very clear about definitions, especially Task (computers) versus Process (computing) versus Job (software). There are two problems here - what are the underlying concepts, and then what words do different people describe them with? Terminology here is very often specific to a particular operating system or software package (or I suppose, academic subdiscipline). Kingdon 15:52, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

• It's kind of confusing. At first, not knowing what tasks are (which is why i read the article), I didn't get what it was saying at all, because it seems to apply to any arbitrary section of code that's ever executed anywhere for any reason. but then I realized (if i'm right) that it implies that a task cannot call a function or jump somewhere that's outside of the task, or it's not a task. if that's actually what it's saying, though, it needs to state that point directly, and if it's not, it needs to say what it's actually saying.
  
  and it's not evident from the article why a task is related to real-time programming. is it because if the cpu switches out of a thread then execution jumps somewhere else? if so, i guess a 'context switch', or whatever, should be named among the exceptions "halt, exit or return", although it's hard to say, because the phrasing is redundant anyway.. a context switch isnt exactly a program instruction, per se, but then it also says 'as long as this program remains in this part of the address space...unless...' which is already contradicted if there's an exit or return. but then the wikipedia definition of real-time programming doesn't say anything about threads/processes or lack of them anyway.. Inhahe (talk) 16:33, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

• I believe the "real-time" statement is a misinterpretation and has nothing to do with RT computing. The actual meaning is very simple and straightforward: a task is a program that is executing, as opposed to merely residing on storage. That is, "program" can refer to many things: its source code, a binary executable file, or a running instance. The word "task" specifically describes a running instance; source code and exe files are never themselves called "tasks". I believe this is what may have been originally implied by the phrase "real-time". In the sense that processes are also, by definition, running instances, the two are analogous but not strictly identical: a program (and therefore, task) may spawn multiple processes and it is up to the UI or users themselves to choose how to interpret the relation of (largely opaque) processes to (user-facing) tasks. Some may choose a 1:1 correlation, others may group multiple processes under a single representation of a task. 65.87.26.122 (talk) 20:44, 5 March 2012 (UTC)