Web Workers are a mechanism by which a script operation can be made to run in a background thread separate from the main execution thread of a web application. The advantage of this is that laborious processing can be performed in a separate thread, allowing the main (usually the UI) thread to run without being blocked/slowed down.
The SharedWorker interface represents a specific kind of worker that can be accessed from several browsing contexts, such as several windows, iframes or even workers. They implement an interface different than dedicated workers and have a different global scope, SharedWorkerGlobalScope.
The WorkerLocation interface defines the absolute location of the script executed by the Worker. Such an object is initialized for each worker and is available via the WorkerGlobalScope.location property obtained by calling window.self.location.
The AbstractWorker.onerror property of the AbstractWorker interface represents an EventHandler, that is a function to be called when the error event occurs and bubbles through the Worker.
The DedicatedWorkerGlobalScope object (the Worker global scope) is accessible through the self keyword. Some additional global functions, namespaces objects, and constructors, not typically associated with the worker global scope, but available on it, are listed in the JavaScript Reference. See also: Functions available to workers.
The parameter passed into the oninstall handler, the InstallEvent interface represents an install action that is dispatched on the ServiceWorkerGlobalScope of a ServiceWorker. As a child of ExtendableEvent, it ensures that functional events such as FetchEvent are not dispatched during installation.
A service worker is an event-driven worker registered against an origin and a path. It takes the form of a JavaScript file that can control the web page/site it is associated with, intercepting and modifying navigation and resource requests, and caching resources in a very granular fashion to give you complete control over how your app behaves in certain situations (the most obvious one being when the network is not available.)
The ServiceWorker interface of the ServiceWorker API provides a reference to a service worker. Multiple browsing contexts (e.g. pages, workers, etc.) can be associated with the same service worker, each through a unique ServiceWorker object.
The ServiceWorkerMessageEvent interface of the ServiceWorker API contains information about an event sent to a ServiceWorkerContainer target. This extends the default message event to allow setting a ServiceWorker object as the source of a message. The event object is accessed via the handler function of a message event, when fired by a message received from a service worker.
The ServiceWorkerRegistion interface of the ServiceWorker API represents the service worker registration. You register a service worker to control one or more pages that share the same origin.
The SharedWorker() constructor creates a SharedWorker object that executes the script at the specified URL. This script must obey the same-origin policy.
The Worker interface of the Web Workers API represents a background task that can be easily created and can send messages back to its creator. Creating a worker is as simple as calling the Worker() constructor and specifying a script to be run in the worker thread.
The WorkerNavigator interface represents a subset of the Navigator interface allowed to be accessed from a Worker. Such an object is initialized for each worker and is available via the WorkerGlobalScope.navigator property obtained by calling window.self.navigator.