Compare processes and threads in Linux and Python
Company: Mercor
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Software Engineering Fundamentals
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Technical Screen
Explain the differences between a **process** and a **thread** in Linux.
Then explain how Python differs (e.g., the GIL), and when you would use Python threads vs Python multiprocessing for performance.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates understanding of operating-system level concurrency versus language-level concurrency, specifically distinctions between processes and threads on Linux, the Global Interpreter Lock in Python, and trade-offs between Python threading and multiprocessing for performance.