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What are the differences between a Program, an Executable, and a Process?
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A program is a passive entity such as a file which contains a list of instructions stored on a disk often called an executable file. A process is an active entity with a program counter specifying the next instruction to execute and a set of associated resources.
An executable is a file that contains a program - that is, a particular kind of file that is capable of being executed or run as a program in the computer. In a Disk Operating System or Windows operating system, an executable file usually has a file name extension of . bat, .com, or .exe.
An application is a program which you interact with on the desktop. This is what you spend almost all of your time using on the computer. Internet explorer, microsoft word, iTunes, skype - they are all applications. A process is an instance of a particular executable ( .exe program file) running.
The main difference between the two extensions is their purpose. EXE is used mainly to indicate that the file is an executable one. In comparison, MSI indicates that the file is a Windows installer. While an MSI is used only with installers, this is not the case with EXE.
In simple words -
Program: Program is a set of instructions which is in human readable format.(HelloWorld.c)
Executable: Executable is a compiled form of a Program (HelloWorld.exe file)
Process: Process is the executable being run by OS. The one you see in Task Manager or Task List (HelloWord.exe Process when we double click it.)
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