In
computing,
preemption is the act of temporarily interrupting a
task being carried out by a
computer system, without requiring its cooperation, and with the intention of resuming the task at a later time. Such a change is known as a
context switch. It is normally carried out by a
privileged task or part of the system known as a preemptive
scheduler, which has the power to
preempt, or interrupt, and later resume, other tasks in the system.