Separate Process Versus Separate Thread in the Same Process
TradeoffNetworking & OSMidSeniorUpdated
Running untrusted plugin code or risky native libraries. Process or thread?
Short answer: Separate process. Processes have separate address spaces; a segfault, memory corruption, or OOM kills only that process.
The Two Options
A
Separate process
B
Separate thread in the same process
Drill This: Your Pick First
The Better Pick
Option A
Separate process
Processes have separate address spaces; a segfault, memory corruption, or OOM kills only that process. Threads share memory, so one bad pointer takes down the whole server. Chrome and modern browsers run each tab in its own process for this reason.
When the Other One Wins
Separate thread in the same process
If you need cheap shared memory and frequent communication (e.g., a worker pool over a hot in-memory cache), threads avoid IPC overhead and fork cost. Trust boundary matters more than performance.