Processes & Workers

What actually separates a child process from a worker thread from a cluster fork, and why Node gives you three different escape hatches instead of one - the mental model behind every other page in this section.

Learn basic Node.js process management with 7 examples. Explore process.pid, process.argv, exit codes, and when to avoid spawning new processes.

Run external programs from Node.js with child_process. Learn to use spawn and exec, manage stdio, and prevent shell injection.

Offload CPU-heavy JavaScript with worker_threads. Learn to use workerData, message passing, and SharedArrayBuffer for parallel processing.

Securely manage Node.js processes and worker threads. Learn best practices for child_process security, worker pool sizing, and graceful shutdowns.

A single-page roundup of every highlight bullet from the 7 pages in the Processes & Workers section, grouped by source page so you can scan all 28 takeaways without opening each article individually.