Difference between Worker threads and Clusters

Through both Worker threads and Clusters are mechanisms for concurrent and parallel processing, but still they have different use cases and operate at different levels of abstraction that differentiates both Worker threads and Clusters, which is given below.

Method	Worker Thread	Clusters
Granularity	Worker threads operate at thread level, providing a way to run JavaScript code in parallel within a single process.	Clusters operate at process level, allowing you to create multiple Node.js processes (workers) to handle incoming network requests.
Communication	Communication between worker threads is typically achieved through message passing using the postMessage API.	Communication between the master process and worker processes is achieved using IPC mechanisms.
Isolation	Worker threads have their own isolated JavaScript context, means they don’t share variables or memory directly.	Each worker process in a cluster is a separate Node.js process, which means they have their own memory space.
I/O Operations	Worker threads are not built for I/O-intensive operations, as Node.js’s built-in asynchronous I/O mechanisms are often more efficient.	Clusters are built for handle I/O-intensive operations efficiently. Each worker in a cluster can handle incoming requests independently.
Memory Sharing	Worker threads can share memory using ArrayBuffer or SharedArrayBuffer instances, which allows more direct communication and shared data.	Clusters operate in separate processes so memory is isolated between them. Communication between clusters is often achieved through message passing.
Use Case	Worker threads are good for CPU-intensive tasks where parallel processing can significantly improve performance.	Clusters are good for improving the scalability of networked applications by distributing incoming requests among multiple processes.

Differentiate between worker threads and clusters in Node JS.

In this article, we will learn about worker threads & clusters, along with discussing the significant distinction that differentiates between worker threads & clusters.