Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2021 09:58:57 -0500
From: Justin Pryzby <pryzby@telsasoft.com>
To: Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@alvh.no-ip.org>
Cc: Bharath Rupireddy <bharath.rupireddyforpostgres@gmail.com>,
	pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org
Subject: Re: What are exactly bootstrap processes, auxiliary processes,
 standalone backends, normal backends(user sessions)?
Message-ID: <20210717145856.GB19498@telsasoft.com>
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On Sat, Jul 17, 2021 at 10:45:52AM -0400, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
> On 2021-Jul-17, Bharath Rupireddy wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, Jul 15, 2021 at 8:17 PM Justin Pryzby <pryzby@telsasoft.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > On Fri, Jul 09, 2021 at 09:24:19PM +0530, Bharath Rupireddy wrote:
> > > > I've always had a hard time distinguishing various types of
> > > > processes/terms used in postgres. I look at the source code every time
> > > > to understand them, yet I don't feel satisfied with my understanding.
> > > > I request any hacker (having a better idea than me) to help me with
> > > > what each different process does and how they are different from each
> > > > other? Of course, I'm clear with normal backends (user sessions), bg
> > > > workers, but the others need a bit more understanding.
> > >
> > > It sounds like something that should be in the glossary, which currently refers
> > > to but doesn't define "auxiliary processes".
> > 
> > Thanks. I strongly feel that it should be documented somewhere. I will
> > be happy if someone with a clear idea about these various processes
> > does it.
> 
> 	Auxiliary process
> 
> 	Process of an <glossterm linkend="glossary-instance">instance</glossterm> in

I think "of an instance" is a distraction here, even if technically accurate.

> 	charge of some specific, hardcoded background task.  Examples are

And I think "hardcoded" doesn't mean anything beyond what "specific" means.

Maybe you'd say: .. process which handles a specific, central task for the
cluster instance.

Thanks,
-- 
Justin