Batch Processing definition
Batch processing is a technique of executing a series of non-interactive jobs all at once. Instead of processing each job as it arrives, these jobs are grouped together into batches and processed as a group. The process doesn't need any user intervention after it begins. Each job in the batch is completed without stopping.
Batch processing is useful in scenarios where the job can be done without interaction or when it can increase efficiency.
See also: memory allocation, random access memory, direct memory access
Examples of batch processing:
- Data Analysis. If you have a large volume of data to analyze, batch processing can handle this data overnight when the computer network has low traffic.
- Data Transformation. Data transformations are done in batch mode to operate on large volumes of data at once.
- Backup and Restore Operations. The backup software might use batch processing to copy all the specified files to the hard disk or cloud storage.
- Billing and Payroll Systems. These often use batch processing to calculate monthly bills or employee paychecks all at once.
- Rendering Graphics. For complex graphics like those in animated films, rendering is often done as a batch process. Each frame might take a long time to render. So, thousands of frames are prepared and then rendered as a batch overnight or over several days.
- Scientific Computing. Many scientific calculations involve running the same operation on a large data set. This kind of calculation can often be done as a batch process.
