You could use the same thread and process to do something else instead of having to spin up another thread or process.
If you're running a web server, you can handle another request, then come back to the first one when the data arrives.
If you're running a web server, you can handle another request, then come back to the first one when the data arrives.
* Would we rather burn computing resources (i.e. on new threads) or calendar time+human resources (i.e. on code refactoring)?
Followed closely by:
* And does it even matter for our situation? (i.e. since for many situations getting every last drop of performance out of a system isn't the real obstacle; it's making it do something useful for the end-user or business)