Context Switching Costs

Context switching costs represent the overhead incurred when an operating system switches the CPU from one process or thread to another. This involves saving the state of the current process and loading the state of the next, which consumes precious processor cycles.

In an environment where every microsecond counts, frequent context switching is a major performance drain. Trading systems are designed to minimize these switches by running critical tasks on dedicated cores and avoiding unnecessary background processes.

By maintaining a stable and focused execution environment, engineers can ensure that the CPU is always dedicated to the primary goal of analyzing market data and executing trades.