#In the Go language, goroutine and thread are the basic units of concurrent execution. Generally speaking, threads are scheduled by the operating system kernel, while coroutines are scheduled by the Go language runtime.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the differences between coroutines and threads:
- Scheduler
Threads are scheduled by the operating system kernel, and Coroutines are scheduled by the Go language runtime. The Go language scheduler uses a technology called M:N scheduling, that is, it maps M goroutines to N OS threads for execution. This allows the Go language to efficiently utilize multi-core CPUs while avoiding the overhead of thread switching.
- Memory and Performance
Each thread requires independent stack space and context switching overhead. The coroutine runs in the same stack space, and because the scheduler of the Go language is based on collaboration, the overhead of context switching is very small. This makes coroutines more lightweight than threads and can support higher concurrency.
- Locks and synchronization
In multi-threaded programming, since shared resources may be accessed by multiple threads at the same time, locks and synchronization mechanisms need to be used to ensure data security. Correctness. In the Go language, since coroutines run in the same stack space, data synchronization and communication can be achieved through mechanisms such as channels, avoiding the use of locks and making the code more concise, easy to read, and easy to write.
- Exception handling
Exceptions may occur in both threads and coroutines, but they handle exceptions differently. In multi-threaded programming, exceptions may cause the entire process to crash. In the Go language, exceptions are treated as ordinary errors, and defer and panic/recover mechanisms can be used to handle exceptions, making the program more robust.
Therefore, although coroutines and threads are both basic units of concurrent execution, their implementation methods and characteristics are different. In the Go language, coroutines are a lightweight concurrency mechanism that can efficiently utilize computing resources and achieve simple and effective synchronization and communication through mechanisms such as channels.