noun
parallelism
The execution of multiple computing tasks at the same time.
The software uses parallelism to process several files at once.
Etymology
Parallelism applies the image of parallel paths to computing work. Multiple tasks proceed alongside one another at the same time instead of waiting in a single sequence.
More examples
- Extra processor cores improve performance when a program supports parallelism.
- Without enough independent tasks, parallelism offers little benefit.
- The graphics processor uses parallelism to update thousands of pixels simultaneously.
Forms
parallelism
parallelize verb — Arrange computing tasks to execute simultaneously.
Similar words
- multiprocessing
- Specifically uses multiple processors or cores to execute tasks.
- concurrency
- Allows tasks to overlap without necessarily executing them simultaneously.