Task (computing): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:25, 21 February 2016

Revision as of 20:27, 21 February 2016

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==History==

The term ''task'' for a part of a job dates to [[multiprogramming]] in the early 1960s, as in this example from 1961:

{{quote |The serial model has the ability to process tasks of one job in an independent manner similar to the functioning of the [[IBM 709]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Simultaneous multiprogramming of electronic computers |year=1961 |author=James Larrimore McKenney |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ThYcAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22tasks +of +one +job%22 154]}}</ref>}}

The term was popularized with the introduction of [[OS/360]] (announced 1964), which featured Multiprogramming with a Fixed number of Tasks (MFT) and Multiprogramming with a Variable number of Tasks (MVT). In this case tasks were identified with processes, a job consisted of a number of tasks, and, later, tasks could have sub-tasks (in modern terminology, [[child process]]es).