Description: Thread states are the various conditions in which a thread can be during its lifecycle in an operating system. A thread, which is the smallest unit of processing that can be managed independently by an operating system, can be in several states, such as running, waiting, ready, or terminated. In the running state, the thread is active and using the CPU, while in the waiting state, it is inactive, waiting for a specific event to occur, such as the completion of an input/output operation. The ready state indicates that the thread is prepared to run as soon as it is assigned CPU time. Finally, the terminated state means that the thread has completed its task and has released the resources it was using. Efficient management of these states is crucial for system performance, as it allows operating systems to optimize CPU usage and system resources, thereby improving multitasking and overall system responsiveness. The transition between these states is managed by the system’s scheduler, which decides which thread should run based on various policies and priorities.
