What is a thread?

[Jamos]

I know it is probably quite basic but I am unsure what a thread is, I have a basic concept as to what it is but I am still unclear on how to explain it and I am still missing a few more details about it to fully understand it.

[Guest]

In what context are you asking about threads?

[NumLock21]

a piece of string

[MimigaKing]

1 minute ago, Jamos said:

I know it is probably quite basic but I am unsure what a thread is, I have a basic concept as to what it is but I am still unclear on how to explain it and I am still missing a few more details about it to fully understand it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum#Thread

 

Quote

A thread (sometimes called a topic) is a collection of posts, usually displayed from oldest to latest, although this is typically configurable: Options for newest to oldest and for a threaded view (a tree-like view applying logical reply structure before chronological order) can be available. A thread is defined by a title, an additional description that may summarize the intended discussion, and an opening or original post (common abbreviation OP, which can also mean original poster), which opens whatever dialogue or makes whatever announcement the poster wished. A thread can contain any number of posts, including multiple posts from the same members, even if they are one after the other.

 

[manikyath]

a.. thread?

a thread?

or a thread?

[Vandorlot]

2 minutes ago, Syn Messer said:

In what context are you asking about threads?

 

1 minute ago, MimigaKing said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum#Thread

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

a piece of string

I think he means in terms of computers like a cpu thread.

[Rezalis]

Forum thread,

String thread,

CPU thread,

Screw thread?

[NumLock21]

Just now, Vandorlot said:

 

 

I think he means in terms of computers like a cpu thread.

i think, he's thinking about thread as in sewing or knitting.

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Vandorlot said:

I think he means in terms of computers like a cpu thread.

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Vandorlot said:

I think he means in terms of computers like a cpu thread.

that would be a reasonable assumption to make since we're on a tech forum and not the sewing corner of the local bingo center, but then it'd be sensible for it to be under CPU, not under general.

[RollinLower]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

that would be a reasonable assumption to make since we're on a tech forum and not the sewing corner of the local bingo center, but then it'd be sensible for it to be under CPU, not under general.

i for one like to think the general section is for all manner of things, so also sewing! tell us @Jamos, what project are you currently working on? a blanket perhaps?

[MedievalMatt]

Thread or threads may refer to:

Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing

Thread (unit of measurement), a cotton yarn measure

Screw thread, a helical ridge on a cylindrical fastener

 

Arts and entertainment

Threads, a 1984 BBC television movie about a nuclear attack

Thread (Pern), a spore in the science fiction novels Dragonriders of Pern

"Threads" (Stargate SG-1), a 2005 Stargate SG-1 episode

"Thread", a poem by Patti Smith from Babel

Project Runway: Threads, a Project Runway spin-off with child contestants

 

Computing

Thread (computing), a sequence of instructions that may execute in parallel with others

Conversation threading, a group of messages on a single topic posted to a newsgroup, mailing list, or Internet forum

Thread (network protocol), an IoT (Internet of things) home automation protocol by Google owned company Nest Labs (see also Project Brillo)

 

Music

Threads (Battlefield Band album), 1995

Threads (Now, Now album), 2012

Threads (Temposhark album), 2010

"Threads" (song), by This Will Destroy You from their self-titled album, 2008

Thread (album), by Wideawake, 1999

Threads (EP), and Extended play by Sarah Harding, 2015

"Threads" (Sarah Harding song), the debut solo single by Sarah Harding, 2015

[NumLock21]

OP is definitely talking about the thread as in sewing.

Gotta sew that awesome AMD Ryzen patch onto me leather jacket!

[TVwazhere]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threads

[TVwazhere]

1 minute ago, MedievalMatt said:

Threads, a 1984 BBC television movie about a nuclear attack

Damnit!

[minibois]

13 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

OP is definitely talking about the thread as in sewing.

Gotta sew that awesome AMD Ryzen patch onto me leather jacket!

I would have just glued it on tbh.

 

But I always like these ambiguous threads :]

[NumLock21]

Just now, Minibois said:

I would have just glued it on tbh.

 

But I always like these ambiguous threads :]

Sewing is more secure.

 

 

[Jamos]

On 15/08/2017 at 7:52 PM, manikyath said:

a.. thread?

-snip-

a thread?

-snip-

or a thread?

-snip-

The third option.

Edited August 16, 2017 by TheRandomness
Snipped the quote. Please don't quote OP without snipping it.

[MedievalMatt]

1 minute ago, Jamos said:

The third option.

the way i understand it.

If you picture a CPU as a body.  the CPU itself is the place where food is processed.

 

If you have one arm (thread) shovelling food in, but you have more room in the stomach (CPU) than one arm can provide.  you are wasting some ammount of performance and energy as well as efficiency.

 

Now if you have two arms, working together to keep the stomach fed to capacity as much as possible, thats a much more effective and efficient way to process things.

[manikyath]

10 hours ago, Jamos said:

The third option.

in a bit of a rough explanation:

 

on the side of the cpu, you can see a "thread" like a lane of a highway, each thread can take one car per a given amount of time. a highway may have a number of lanes, in some different configurations, but in the end its all lanes.

 

on the software side of things, a "thread" is a truck driving on the lanes of before mentioned highwy. if a piece of software only has one "thread", it can only use one lane at a time, leaving the others of your cpu unused. if a piece of software has multiple "threads" (for example, chrome has a thread for every tab and every plugin you have) these are multiple trucks that can be spread out over the lanes of the highway.

[SCHISCHKA]

one line answer: a computer is a machine that takes a set of instructions as input. One set of instructions is one thread.

[Glenwing]

12 hours ago, Jamos said:

I know it is probably quite basic but I am unsure what a thread is, I have a basic concept as to what it is but I am still unclear on how to explain it and I am still missing a few more details about it to fully understand it.

It's just a series of related calculations. Calculations in one thread are independent and unrelated to the calculations from a different thread, so one line of calculations can be executed or halted without affecting other threads. It's just an organizational structure, it's not a real "thing".

[Intel HD Graphics]

The central processing unit (CPU) in your computer does the computational work—running programs, basically. But modern CPUs offer features like multiple cores and hyper-threading. Some PCs even use multiple CPUs. A CPU that offers multiple cores or hyper-threading may perform significantly better than a single-core CPU of the same speed that doesn’t feature hyper-threading. And PCs with multiple CPUs can have an even bigger advantage. All of these features are designed to allow PCs to more easily run multiple processes at the same time—increasing your performance when multitasking or under the demands of powerful apps like video encoders and modern games. So, let’s take a look at each of these features and what they might mean to you. - How to geek

[mr moose]

I'll be honest,  I only came to this thread to see how many times the "sewing" thread joke would be done.  I am a little concerned it was more than twice... 

[manikyath]

10 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

one line answer: a computer is a machine that takes a set of instructions as input. One set of instructions is one thread.

except that that's so oversimplified it could be interpreted as wrong.