The difference between Software Service and Standalone
I have a question about Softwares which work like Service and others which work like Standalone.
Software Service (background process)
A background process is a computer process that runs " nos backstage " (that is, in the background) and without user intervention.
Standalone Software
Are called stand Alone, or stand-alone (literally "stand by themselves") completely self-sufficient programs: for their operation they do not need an auxiliary software, such as an interpreter, under which they will have to run.
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Note: I used the
background processas it was the closest to a background service I found. The wordservice,serviçoand etc, it gets out of scope Affairs. -
Note: I'm using term
ServiceandStandalone, why I saw a program that brings the two installation options and I need to understand why.
- What is the difference between the two types?
- when a software is
standalonecan I accept that it is "backgroud process"? Or vice versa. - I believe that if a program has these two options for installation there must be a difference.
2 answers
Note: if the two terms are presented as options in the installation of a system, then they probably refer to the way the dependencies of that system will be managed - and not the way the lifecycle of the program is managed (as my answer assumes). See the reply of Gypsy Morrison Mendez for more details.
The two concepts are orthogonal, that is, they have no relation to each other. You can have a system that is standalone and a background process, you can have one that is just one or just the other, and you can have one that is neither.
As explained in Gypsy Morrison Mendez's answer, a standalone app is self-sufficient, possessing everything it needs to function without the dependency on external apps. However, there is a limit - programs are typically compiled for a specific architecture, and usually also for a specific operating system. This means that there is a dependency on the OS, only there is no dependency on other applications and libraries that are not a native part of that OS. Even a system distributed in source code format requires at least one compiler to turn it into executable code.
Already the concept of Service, is more or less the following: when the operating system starts, a series of other programs are put into execution, until it is ready to receive commands from the user(either via graphical interface or via terminal). All these programs are called " services "(with the exception of the" normal "applications that the user chose to start when"turning on the computer"). They usually do not have a window, or an icon on the taskbar, and the only way to interact with them is through their service interface (which can be via socket, pipe, http requests, etc.). They also can not be "opened" or "closed" by the user (except forced closure), since its lifecycle is controlled by the OS itself.
It should be noted that background process is different from service: in *NIX systems at least, any process can be sent to background (and later brought back to foreground) via a specific command. But that doesn't make it a service-because if you close the terminal / log out, all the processes that that started terminal are closed as well. For the process to "survive closure", it is necessary that it has been explicitly configured for this (as described earlier).
(and if this is not clear, "send to the background" means that the terminal is free to execute other commands; or in the case of a graphical interface, it means that the program no longer has a Window)
Background Process it is dependent on the operating system and managed by it. Therefore, it is subject to behavior changes with updates and migrations. It is usually smaller and does not require much configuration.
Standalone usually indicates that the application is self-sufficient. It has all the libraries to work independently of the installation of the operating system. Despite being larger and requiring more configurations, Standalone is more suitable for stability and for servers that receive continuous updates that may impair the operation of the application.