Glossary
launchd
The first process macOS starts. It launches and manages almost every other process.
What it is
launchd has process ID 1. It starts system services at boot, starts your login items and agents when you log in, and restarts services that stop.
Because launchd starts so much, it is the parent of most processes. Grouping processes by their parent alone therefore puts almost everything under launchd, which isn't useful.
Why it matters
launchd itself rarely uses much. When you see services you don't recognise, they were probably started by launchd on behalf of an app or login item.
In Activity Monitor
A process named launchd; in View → All Processes, Hierarchically, most processes sit underneath it.
In iKnowMyMac
iKnowMyMac groups by the app a process belongs to (its app bundle, then its responsible process, then its parent chain), and puts system processes under a macOS row.
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