Parallel programming helps the developer take advantage of the hardware on workstations where multiple CPU cores are available. They allow multiple threads to be executed in parallel.

In previous versions, parallelization required low-level manipulation of threads and locks. From .NET Framework 4 onward, enhanced support for parallel programming was provided in the form of the runtime, class library types, and diagnostic tools. 

The following diagram shows the high-level architecture of parallel programming:

In the upcoming sections, we will talk about some of the components listed in the preceding architecture diagram.