Week 27:CST 334 Week 2: Processes

 So far, the class has been interesting and engaging, and the homework assignments have been easier than I initially expected. However, the material is dense and requires a lot of attention to detail, which makes me feel like this foundational knowledge could have been introduced earlier. Understanding processes and how the OS manages them is complex but also essential to understand how operating systems work efficiently. It's a lot to take in, but it's rewarding to see how these concepts tie into the bigger picture of software performance and multitasking.

In the second week of CST 334, we learned about the concept of processes, one of the fundamental abstractions in operating systems. I learned that a process is essentially a running program, complete with its own memory space, registers, program counter, and stack, which are all maintained by the OS to ensure isolated and efficient execution. 

This week highlighted the mechanisms and policies involved in managing processes, including context switching, where the OS saves the state of one process and loads the state of another to enable multitasking. I also learned the different types of context switches: voluntary, when a process willingly yields control (like waiting for I/O), and involuntary, when the OS forces a switch due to time-slicing or preemption. These insights helped me understand how the OS balances multiple processes, ensuring fair CPU access and system responsiveness.