What is multiprograming?

Question

What is multiprograming?

Answer 1

I think you mean multi-threaded programming, but I could be wrong. Most modern CPU's have 2 or more processing cores. multi-threaded programming allows developers to harness the full power of each core simultaneously. In other words, you can write one program that may need computation, analysis, access to data objects, etc. Multi-threaded processing would allow you to write a "thread" for each aspect of the program, allowing the CPU to work substantially faster than in old-fashioned single core CPU's. Intel also has HT - or Hyper Threading - on some of their late model Pentium 4's, but it is not the same. I hope that helps.  

Answer 2

Multiprogramming is a rudimentary form of parallel processing in which several programs are run at the same time on a uniprocessor.

Since there is only one processor , there can be no true simultaneous execution of different programs.

Answer 3

multiprogramming: A mode of operation that provides for the interleaved execution of two or more computer programs by a single processor.

http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-0...

Multiprogramming is a rudimentary form of parallel processing in which several programs are run at the same time on a uniprocessor. Since there is only one processor , there can be no true simultaneous execution of different programs. Instead, the operating system executes part of one program, then part of another, and so on. To the user it appears that all programs are executing at the same time.

If the machine has the capability of causing an interrupt after a specified time interval, then the operating system will execute each program for a given length of time, regain control, and then execute another program for a given length of time, and so on. In the absence of this mechanism, the operating system has no choice but to begin to execute a program with the expectation, but not the certainty, that the program will eventually return control to the operating system.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/...

The most characteristic program-modularization technique of Unix is splitting large programs into multiple cooperating processes. This has usually been called ‘multiprocessing’ in the Unix world, but in this book we revive the older term ‘multiprogramming’ to avoid confusion with multiprocessor hardware implementations.

Multiprogramming is a particularly murky area of design, one in which there are few guidelines to good practice. Many programmers with excellent judgment about how to break up code into subroutines nevertheless wind up writing whole applications as monster single-process monoliths that founder on their own internal complexity.

http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/multiprogr...

Multiprogramming is the rapid switching of the CPU between multiple processes in memory. It is done only when the currently running process requests I/O, or terminates. It was commonly used to keep the CPU busy while one or more processes are doing I/O. It is now mostly

superceded by multitasking, in which processes also lose the CPU when their time quantum expires.

Multiprogramming makes efficient use of the CPU by overlapping the demands for the CPU and its I/O devices from various users. It attempts to increase CPU utilization by always having something for the CPU to execute.

The prime reason for multiprogramming is to give the CPU something to do while waiting for I/O to complete. If there is no DMA, the CPU is fully occupied doing I/O, so there is nothing to be gained (at least in terms of CPU utilization) by multiprogramming.

http://www.laynetworks.com/features%20an...