1.4.1 Boss/Worker Model

In a boss/worker model of program design, one thread functions as the boss because it assigns tasks to worker threads for them to perform. Each worker performs a different task until it has finished, at which point it notifies the boss that it is ready to receive another task. Alternatively, the boss polls workers periodically to see whether or not each worker is ready to receive another task.

A variation of the boss/worker model is the work queue model. The boss places tasks in a queue, and workers check the queue and take tasks to perform. An example of the work queue model in an office environment is a secretarial typing pool. The office manager ("boss") puts documents to be typed in a basket and typists ("workers") take documents from the basket to work on.