Describes a program that is designed to have parts of its code execute concurrently See also thread Having multiple threads of execution so that parts of a program can execute concurrently (Source: Using Java, Que Corporation, 1996)
A multithreaded program allows different parts of a program to run concurrently Operating systems like Windows Net* and Windows XP* are multithreaded as are many scientific applications When creating an application, developers must create code so that the threads can run independently and will not interfere with each other
In the context of OpenGL Performer culling, multithreading is an option for increased parallelism when multiple pfChannels exist in a single OpenGL Performer rendering pipeline In this case, multiple cull processes are created to work on culling the channels of a pfPipe in parallel For example, a single OpenGL Performer pipeline stage (such as the CULL) is multithreaded when configured as multiple, concurrent processes These "threads" are not arranged in pipeline fashion but work in parallel on the same frame