Batch processing focuses on executing a collection of jobs in a non-interactive manner, while interactive processing emphasizes real-time or near real-time user interaction with the job scheduling system to initiate and execute tasks on demand. With batch processing, jobs are usually submitted in advance and processed in a sequential or parallel manner without user interaction. The input and output data is predefined and stored in files or databases. Batch processing can be particularly useful for large-scale data processing, running overnight backups, generating reports, and performing complex calculations. With interactive processing, users provide input and receive immediate feedback from the job scheduling system, and jobs are initiated and executed on demand based on real-time user input or requests. The output data is displayed directly to the user during the session. Interactive processing can be a good method for interactive applications, user interfaces, and other online solutions that require immediate user interaction and feedback, like a chat bot or messaging platform. See how teams manage critical business and IT jobs with ActiveBatch’s batch scheduler.