Which term refers to the ability of an application to execute multiple instructions at the same time?

The term that describes the ability of an application to execute multiple instructions simultaneously is known as multithreading. This concept allows a program to manage multiple threads of execution within a single process, leading to improved performance and resource utilization. Each thread can run a different part of the program concurrently, which is particularly useful for applications that deal with a lot of simultaneous operations, such as web servers or user interfaces.

Multithreading is essential for modern software development, as it allows applications to handle multiple tasks at once, enhancing efficiency and responsiveness. For example, in a web browser, one thread may be responsible for rendering the page, while another thread might be used for downloading images. This division of labor allows the application to perform better and provide a smoother user experience.

In contrast, the other options describe different concepts: threading refers to the general concept of executing threads, single-threading is the execution of one instruction at a time without parallelism, and task processing is a broader term that can refer to various strategies for managing tasks but does not specifically imply simultaneous execution.