Interruptible

Interruptible is an adjective describing a process, task, or service that can be paused or stopped in response to an external event or higher-priority work without causing unacceptable disruption. In general, interruptibility implies that the system supports safe suspension and resumption of work.

In computing, interrupts are signals that temporarily divert the CPU from its current task to handle events such as I/O completion or a timer. An interruptible process or thread may be paused and later resumed; many operating systems distinguish between interruptible and non-interruptible states (for example, in Linux, TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE versus TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE sleep).

In scheduling and real-time systems, interruptible tasks can be preempted by higher-priority tasks or signals, enabling responsiveness. Non-interruptible tasks run to completion or until they voluntarily yield, which guarantees progress but can reduce responsiveness.

In the energy and utilities sector, interruptible load refers to electricity consumption that a customer agrees to reduce or shed during demand events. Utilities may offer incentives, and the interruption is typically reversible and scheduled to minimize impact on the customer’s operations.

In software development, giving operations an interruptible design involves cooperative cancellation, such as cancellation tokens, checks for cancellation requests, and safe state management. Interruptions can introduce complexity and require explicit handling to avoid data corruption.