Practice vs. Process — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Urooj Arif — Updated on April 22, 2024
Practice involves repeated exercises to improve skills or maintain proficiency, while process refers to a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a specific end.
Difference Between Practice and Process
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Practice is typically defined as the act of engaging in an activity repeatedly to improve or maintain one’s skill in that area, such as practicing a musical instrument or a sport. On the other hand, a process is a set of systematic steps followed to achieve a particular goal, like manufacturing or software development.
While practice is often individual-focused, aiming to enhance personal abilities and competencies, processes are usually designed to ensure consistency and efficiency in organizational or project tasks, impacting groups or systems.
A musician practices daily to perfect their technique, focusing on specific exercises that enhance their performance skills. Conversely, the process of recording a music album involves various sequential steps including songwriting, arranging, recording, and mixing.
In educational settings, students engage in practice through problem-solving or rehearsal to master a subject or skill, emphasizing repetition and feedback. Whereas, the educational process may include curriculum design, teaching methodologies, evaluation, and feedback systems, structured to facilitate learning.
The feedback component in practice is crucial for improvement and is often immediate, such as a coach correcting a player’s posture. In contrast, feedback within a process might be more periodic and formalized, like quarterly reviews in a corporate setting.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Repeated exercise to improve skills
Steps to achieve a specific outcome
Focus
Individual improvement
Systematic efficiency
Examples
Sports training, musical rehearsal
Manufacturing, software development
Feedback Nature
Often immediate and direct
Periodic and formal
Outcome
Personal skill enhancement
Consistent results in a task or project
Compare with Definitions
Practice
Regular performance of activities to improve proficiency.
She makes it a practice to jog every morning.
Process
A method or procedure for accomplishing a goal.
They implemented a new process for handling complaints.
Practice
The work or business of a professional, like a doctor or lawyer.
He joined the law practice right after graduation.
Process
To treat or prepare by some particular series of actions, often involving chemical changes.
They process the film in a darkroom.
Practice
The continuous exercise of a profession.
She has been in dental practice for over a decade.
Process
A series of actions directed towards a specific aim.
The recruitment process took two months.
Practice
Repeated performance to acquire or maintain proficiency in a skill.
Regular practice is key to mastering a language.
Process
A natural occurrence marked by gradual changes that lead towards a particular result.
The process of erosion shaped the landscape.
Practice
Customary or habitual performance.
It's his practice to review notes before meetings.
Process
The processed condition of material.
The processed foods at the store include frozen dinners and snack foods.
Practice
The actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it
The principles and practice of teaching
The recommendations proved too expensive to put into practice
Process
A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result
The process of digestion.
The process of obtaining a driver's license.
Practice
The customary, habitual, or expected procedure or way of doing of something
Modern child-rearing practices
Product placement is common practice in American movies
Process
A series of operations performed in the making or treatment of a product
A manufacturing process.
Leather dyed during the tanning process.
Practice
Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it
It must have taken a lot of practice to become so fluent
Process
Progress; passage
The process of time.
Events now in process.
Practice
US spelling of practise
Process
The use of the law courts and other fora as a means of seeking redress
The adversarial process.
Due process of law.
Practice
To do or perform habitually or customarily; make a habit of
Practices courtesy in social situations.
Process
The set of actions and events that constitute a legal proceeding or a significant portion thereof
The trial process.
The sentencing process.
Practice
To do or perform (something) repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill
Practice a dance step.
Process
(Law) A means of compelling a person to appear in court, especially a summons ordering a defendant to appear in court.
Practice
To give lessons or repeated instructions to; drill
Practiced the students in handwriting.
Process
(Biology) An outgrowth of tissue; a projecting part
A bony process.
Practice
To work at, especially as a profession
Practice law.
Process
Any of various photomechanical or photoengraving methods.
Practice
To carry out in action; observe
Practices a religion piously.
Process
A running software program or other computing operation.
Practice
(Obsolete) To plot (something evil).
Process
A part of a running software program or other computing operation that does a single task.
Practice
To do something repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill
With any musical instrument, you need to practice to get better.
Process
See conk3.
Practice
To work at a profession
How long has that lawyer been practicing?.
Process
To put through the steps of a prescribed procedure
Processing newly arrived immigrants.
Process an order.
Practice
To do or perform something habitually or repeatedly
Why not practice in the same manner that you preach?.
Process
To prepare, treat, or convert by subjecting to a special process
Process ore to obtain minerals.
Practice
(Archaic) To intrigue or plot.
Process
(Computers) To perform operations on (data).
Practice
A habitual or customary action or way of doing something
Makes a practice of being punctual.
Process
To gain an understanding or acceptance of; come to terms with
Processed the traumatic event in therapy.
Practice
Repeated performance of an activity in order to learn or perfect a skill
Practice will make you a good musician.
Process
To straighten (hair) by a chemical process; conk.
Practice
A session of preparation or performance undertaken to acquire or polish a skill
Goes to piano practice weekly.
Scheduled a soccer practice for Saturday.
Process
To move along in a procession
"The man in the panama hat offered his arm and ... they processed into the dining room" (Anita Brookner).
Practice
(Archaic) The skill so learned or perfected.
Process
Prepared or converted by a special process
Process cheese.
Practice
The condition of being skilled through repeated exercise
Out of practice.
Process
Made by or used in any of several photomechanical or photoengraving processes
A process print.
Practice
The act or process of doing something; performance or action
A theory that is difficult to put into practice.
Process
A series of events which produce a result (the product).
This product of last month's quality standards committee is quite good, even though the process was flawed.
Practice
Exercise of an occupation or profession
The practice of law.
Process
(manufacturing) A set of procedures used to produce a product, most commonly in the food and chemical industries.
Practice
The business of a professional person
An obstetrician with her own practice.
Process
A path of succession of states through which a system passes.
Practice
A habitual or customary action or act
That company engages in questionable business practices. Facial tattooing is a standard practice among certain peoples.
Process
(anatomy) Successive physiological responses to keep or restore health.
Practice
(Law) The procedure for trial of cases in a court of law, usually specified by rules.
Process
(legal) Documents issued by a court in the course of a lawsuit or action at law, such as a summons, mandate, or writ.
Practice
The act of tricking or scheming, especially with malicious intent.
Process
(biology) An outgrowth of tissue or cell.
Practice
A trick, scheme, or intrigue.
Process
(anatomy) A structure that arises above a surface.
Practice
Repetition of an activity to improve a skill.
He will need lots of practice with the lines before he performs them.
Process
(computing) An executable task or program.
Practice
An organized event for the purpose of performing such repetition.
Being on a team is hard: you're always having to go to practice while everyone else is taking it easy.
I have choir practice every Sunday after church.
Process
The centre mark that players aim at in the game of squails.
Practice
The ongoing pursuit of a craft or profession, particularly in medicine or the fine arts.
Process
(transitive) To perform a particular process on a thing.
Practice
(countable) A place where a professional service is provided, such as a general practice.
She ran a thriving medical practice.
Process
(transitive) To retrieve, store, classify, manipulate, transmit etc. (data, signals, etc.), especially using computer techniques.
We have processed the data using our proven techniques, and have come to the following conclusions.
Practice
The observance of religious duties that a church requires of its members.
Process
To think about a piece of information, or a concept, in order to assimilate it, and perhaps accept it in a modified state.
I didn't know she had a criminal record. That will take me a while to process.
Practice
A customary action, habit, or behaviour; a manner or routine.
It is the usual practice of employees there to wear neckties only when meeting with customers.
It is good practice to check each door and window before leaving.
Process
To develop photographic film.
Practice
Actual operation or experiment, in contrast to theory.
That may work in theory, but will it work in practice?
Process
To take legal proceedings against.
Practice
(legal) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.
This firm of solicitors is involved in family law practice.
Process
To walk in a procession
Practice
Skilful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; stratagem; artifice.
Process
The act of proceeding; continued forward movement; procedure; progress; advance.
The thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.
Practice
(math) A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
Process
A series of actions, motions, or occurrences; progressive act or transaction; continuous operation; normal or actual course or procedure; regular proceeding; as, the process of vegetation or decomposition; a chemical process; processes of nature.
Tell her the process of Antonio's end.
Practice
(US) practise
Process
A statement of events; a narrative.
Practice
Frequently repeated or customary action; habitual performance; a succession of acts of a similar kind; usage; habit; custom; as, the practice of rising early; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of daily exercise.
A heart . . . exercised with covetous practices.
Process
Any marked prominence or projecting part, especially of a bone; anapophysis.
Practice
Customary or constant use; state of being used.
Obsolete words may be revived when they are more sounding or more significant than those in practice.
Process
The whole course of proceedings in a cause real or personal, civil or criminal, from the beginning to the end of the suit; strictly, the means used for bringing the defendant into court to answer to the action; - a generic term for writs of the class called judicial.
Practice
Skill or dexterity acquired by use; expertness.
Process
A particular course of action intended to achieve a result;
The procedure of obtaining a driver's license
It was a process of trial and error
Practice
Actual performance; application of knowledge; - opposed to theory.
There are two functions of the soul, - contemplation and practice.
There is a distinction, but no opposition, between theory and practice; each, to a certain extent, supposes the other; theory is dependent on practice; practice must have preceded theory.
Process
A sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states;
Events now in process
The process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls
Practice
Systematic exercise for instruction or discipline; as, the troops are called out for practice; she neglected practice in music.
Process
(psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents;
The process of thinking
The cognitive operation of remembering
Practice
Application of science to the wants of men; the exercise of any profession; professional business; as, the practice of medicine or law; a large or lucrative practice.
Practice is exercise of an art, or the application of a science in life, which application is itself an art.
Process
A writ issued by authority of law; usually compels the defendant's attendance in a civil suit; failure to appear results in a default judgment against the defendant
Practice
Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; plot; - usually in a bad sense.
He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.
Process
A mental process that you are not directly aware of;
The process of denial
Practice
A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
Process
A natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant;
A bony process
Practice
The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.
Process
Deal with in a routine way;
I'll handle that one
Process a loan
Process the applicants
Practice
To do or perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to make a practice of; as, to practice gaming.
Process
Subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition;
Process cheese
Process hair
Treat the water so it can be drunk
Treat the lawn with chemicals
Treat an oil spill
Practice
To exercise, or follow, as a profession, trade, art, etc., as, to practice law or medicine.
Process
Perform mathematical and logical operations on (data) according to programmed instructions in order to obtain the required information;
The results of the elections were still being processed when he gave his acceptance speech
Practice
To exercise one's self in, for instruction or improvement, or to acquire discipline or dexterity; as, to practice gunnery; to practice music.
Process
Institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against;
He was warned that the district attorney would process him
She actioned the company for discrimination
Practice
To put into practice; to carry out; to act upon; to commit; to execute; to do.
As this advice ye practice or neglect.
Process
Shape, form, or improve a material;
Work stone into tools
Process iron
Work the metal
Practice
To make use of; to employ.
In malice to this good knight's wife, I practiced Ubaldo and Ricardo to corrupt her.
Process
Deliver a warrant or summons to someone;
He was processed by the sheriff
Practice
To teach or accustom by practice; to train.
In church they are taught to love God; after church they are practiced to love their neighbor.
Process
March in a procession;
They processed into the dining room
Practice
To perform certain acts frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or amusement; as, to practice with the broadsword or with the rifle; to practice on the piano.
Practice
To learn by practice; to form a habit.
They shall practice how to live secure.
Practice first over yourself to reign.
Practice
To try artifices or stratagems.
He will practice against thee by poison.
Practice
To apply theoretical science or knowledge, esp. by way of experiment; to exercise or pursue an employment or profession, esp. that of medicine or of law.
[I am] little inclined to practice on others, and as little that others should practice on me.
Practice
A customary way of operation or behavior;
It is their practice to give annual raises
They changed their dietary pattern
Practice
Systematic training by multiple repetitions;
Practice makes perfect
Practice
Translating an idea into action;
A hard theory to put into practice
Differences between theory and praxis of communism
Practice
The exercise of a profession;
The practice of the law
I took over his practice when he retired
Practice
Knowledge of how something is usually done;
It is not the local practice to wear shorts to dinner
Practice
Learn by repetition;
We drilled French verbs every day
Pianists practice scales
Practice
Avail oneself to;
Apply a principle
Practice a religion
Use care when going down the stairs
Use your common sense
Practice non-violent resistance
Practice
Carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions;
Practice law
Practice
Engage in a rehearsal (of)
Common Curiosities
How can the quality of a process be evaluated?
The quality of a process can be evaluated through metrics such as efficiency, effectiveness, and adherence to standards.
How do processes adapt to changes in goals or environments?
Processes often adapt through process optimization, feedback mechanisms, and continuous improvement practices.
What is the role of automation in processes?
Automation plays a key role in processes by increasing efficiency, reducing human error, and freeing up human resources for more complex tasks.
Is practice always necessary for skill development?
Yes, consistent practice is crucial for developing and honing skills across various fields.
What differentiates a process in business from one in science?
In business, processes often focus on operational efficiency and customer satisfaction, whereas in science, processes are more about experimental procedures and validating hypotheses.
What does practice mean in a professional context?
In professional contexts, practice refers to the routine execution of one’s business or profession, particularly in fields like law, medicine, or consulting.
Can a process include several practices?
Yes, a process can include multiple practices, especially if they are part of achieving the overarching systematic goals.
Why is documenting processes important?
Documenting processes is important for consistency, training purposes, and ensuring compliance with regulations and standards.
How does individual practice impact team performance?
Individual practice enhances skills that can significantly improve overall team performance, especially in fields like sports or music ensembles.
Are there universal best practices for creating efficient processes?
While specific best practices can vary by industry and function, universal principles include clarity, measurement, adaptability, and alignment with goals.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
