Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Batch processing

Batch processing is execution of a series of programs on a computer without human interaction. This operating environment is termed as batch processing because the input data are collected into batches on files and are processed in batches by the program. Batch processing has been associated with mainframe computers.

Batch jobs are set up so they can be run to completion without human interaction, so all input data is preselected through scripts or command-line parameters. This is in contrast to online programs which prompt the user for such input. A program takes a set of data files as input and produces a set of output data files.

Because such computers were enormously costly, batch processing was the only economically-viable option of their use. In those days, interactive sessions with either text-based computer terminal interfaces or graphical user interfaces were not widespread. Initially multiple programs loaded into the main memory.

 Batch processing is often used to perform various operations with digital images. There exist computer programs like Batch Image Processor that let one resize image files. Batch processing is also used for converting a number of computer files from one format to another. This is to make files portable and legacy files where viewers are not easy to come by.

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