Dual-Core中文叫双核,也就是具有两个内核的单CPU.当然,AMD & Intel都在研制4内核设置更多内核的CPU.但无论怎么样,始终都是单CPU. So if you were talking about desktop PC then I'm 100% sure it falls into this category and from end user's perspective we don't need to worry about it's dual-core or not - it's up to OS's responsibility to make the best use of CPU. Otherwise, if you were talking about server or multi-processor system, it's such a big topic that the only word I can say is yes, it could be categorized as shared memory, non-shared memory, shared disk; SMP versus ??? (sorry, I cannot remember). If this was the case, sometimes paralell programming is needed but more importantly, dedicated OS is must. As for C programming language, my comment would be, the tool is just as good as the person who use it... For me, I used to write a virus which rebooted my PC from time to time but actually I was hoping to develop a command parser at the very begining of my IT life (not career) - really a shame!