Explain the Concept of Child Processes in Node

Child processes in Node provide a way to execute multiple processes simultaneously, enabling efficient handling of tasks that can benefit from parallel execution. This concept is particularly useful for tasks such as running CPU-intensive computations, performing I/O operations, or executing external applications without blocking the main event loop.

What are Child Processes?

In Node, child processes are separate instances of the Node runtime that can be spawned from the main Node process. These child processes can run concurrently with the main process, allowing for parallel execution of tasks.

Why Use Child Processes?

There are several reasons why you might want to use child processes in NodeJS:

• Parallel Execution: Child processes allow you to perform tasks concurrently, utilizing multiple CPU cores and improving overall performance.
• Isolation: Child processes run independently of the main process, providing isolation and preventing one task from affecting the stability of the entire application.
• Handling Blocking Operations: Child processes are particularly useful for handling blocking operations such as file I/O or network requests without blocking the main event loop.
• Scalability: By distributing tasks across multiple child processes, you can scale your application to handle a larger volume of work.

How to Create Child Processes in NodeJS:

NodeJS provides the child_process module, which allows you to spawn new child processes. There are several methods available in this module, including:

• spawn(): Spawn method is used to spawn a new process asynchronously. It returns a ChildProcess object that provides streams for stdin, stdout, and stderr.
• fork(): Fork method is a special case of spawn() that is specifically designed for creating child processes that communicate with each other using inter-process communication (IPC).
• exec(): Exec method is used to execute a command in a shell asynchronously. It buffers the command’s output and passes the whole output value to a callback function once the command completes.
• execFile(): execFile method is similar to exec() but allows you to specify the path to the executable file directly instead of using a shell.

const { spawn } = require('child_process');

// Spawn a child process
const child = spawn(command, [args], [options]);