a sudden change in these, for example, a function call which modifies the stack, registers, and instruction pointer simultaneously, or a CPU's switch from executing one process to another, which produces similar effects
A context switch is where the CPU switches from running one executable process to running another executable process. The register set and state of the first process must be saved, and the register set and state of the second process restored.
Occurs when the scheduler replaces one process executing on a CPU with another.
An event that occurs when the kernel switches the processor from one thread to another, for example, when an I/O operation causes a thread to be blocked and the operating system selects another thread to run on the processor.
When the system scheduler stops a job from executing and replaces it with another job.
In a uniprocessor system, the current thread is interrupted by a higher priority thread or by some external event, and the system switches to a different thread. The choice of which thread to dispatch is usually made on a priority basis or based on how long a thread has been waiting.
switching the CPU from running one thread to running another thread. Refers to the changes necessary in the CPU when the scheduler schedules a different process to run on the CPU. This involves invalidating the TLB, loading the registers with the saved values, etc. There is an associated cost with such a switch, so it is best to avoid un-necessary context switch when possible. Note that the division of kernel-mode and user-mode means a similar, but simpler, operation is necessary when a syscall moves into kernel mode. However this is not called a context switch, as the mode switch doesn't change the current process. See lazy TLB. One good of feature of Linux is its extremely low context and mode switch cost, compared to an operating system like Solaris.
A context switch is a switch in execution between one thread/process and another. This involves saving the currently executing thread process's context (i.e. its address space mappings) and restoring the newly executing thread process's context.
The process of switching from one task to another in a multitasking operating system. A context switch involves saving the context of the running task and restoring the previously saved context of the other. The piece of code that does this is necessarily processor specific.
A context switch is the computing process of storing and restoring the state (context) of a CPU such that multiple processes can share a single CPU resource. The context switch is an essential feature of a multitasking operating system. Context switches are usually computationally intensive and much of the design of operating systems is to optimize the use of context switches.