Concurrent vs. Parallel Programming

Concurrent Programming: This involves managing multiple tasks that can overlap in time but don't necessarily run simultaneously. It's about handling multiple operations without necessarily doing them all at once.

Parallel Programming: This is about executing multiple tasks or computations simultaneously, often to increase performance. It's typically used for functions that can be divided into independent subtasks that can be performed at the same time.

Understand this analogy.

Imagine a chef in a kitchen. The chef is working on multiple dishes at once but only actively cooking one dish at a time. While one dish is simmering, the chef starts chopping vegetables for another. This is like concurrent programming, where tasks overlap in time but are not necessarily running simultaneously. It's about dealing with lots of things at once.

A team of chefs is in a large kitchen, each cooking a different dish simultaneously. They are all working simultaneously, contributing to a faster overall cooking process. This is like parallel programming, where tasks are executed simultaneously, often using multiple processors or cores. It's about doing lots of things at the same time.