Programming: Process Context and Interrupt Context
Published:
The comparison between process and interrupt contexts.
Contents:
What is Contexts?
Context is the task’s state stored so that it can resume execution when scheduling back from the scheduling queue.
Differences Between Process and Interrupt Contexts
The process context is the state of a user-mode running task, which is pointed by current.
The interrupt context is the environemnt when the kernel handles an interrupt.
A deferrable action of the interrupt can be stored in the workqueue and run in process context.
| Process Context | Interrupt Context | |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep? | Yes | No |
| Time Critical? | No | Yes |
| Context switch? | Yes | No |
| Access User Memory? | Yes | No |
Useful Links
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[Interrupts Linux Kernel Labs](https://linux-kernel-labs.github.io/refs/heads/master/lectures/interrupts.html)