A job system manages multithreaded code by creating jobs instead of threads.
A job system manages a group of worker threads across multiple cores. It usually has one worker thread per logical CPU core, to avoid context switching (although it may reserve some cores for the operating system or other dedicated applications).
A job system puts jobs into a job queue to execute. Worker threads in a job system take items from the job queue and execute them. A job system manages dependencies and ensures that jobs execute in the appropriate order.
A job is a small unit of work that does one specific task. A job receives parameters and operates on data, similar to how a method call behaves. Jobs can be self-contained, or they can depend on other jobs to complete before they can run.
In complex systems, like those required for game development, it is unlikely that each job is self-contained. One job is usually preparing the data for the next job. Jobs are aware of and support dependencies to make this work.
If jobA has a dependency on jobB, the job system ensures that jobA does not start executing until jobB is complete.
2018–06–15 Page published with editorial review
C# Job System exposed in 2018.1 NewIn20181