Daemon

A daemon application is often found in Unix and several other multitasking computer systems. While a user will not detect the program, it is rather busy behind the scenes. It exists for the sole purpose of managing periodic requests an operating system expects to receive. A clear example would be a web server that uses HTTP. Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a type of daemon that continuously waits for the requests of a server’s clients and users. Daemons are often confused with demon programs - their functions are different but share a few similarities. In definitive terms, a daemon application runs on it’s own directly under an operating system while a demon program runs as part of a larger application. In mythology, a daemon was considered to be an ancient God who handled the background matters of world. In this sense, it may be defined as an attendant spirit or power.