Memory Management in Operating System
Memory management in an operating system refers to the process of controlling and coordinating the computers main memory. It involves allocating and deallocating memory space to individual processes, ensuring that memory blocks are properly managed and utilized efficiently. The main goals of memory management are to achieve efficient utilization of memory, minimize fragmentation issues, and maintain data integrity while executing processes.
Key Aspects of Memory Management
- Allocation and Deallocation: Memory management involves allocating and deallocating memory before and after process execution, keeping track of used memory space by processes, and minimizing fragmentation issues.
- Efficient Utilization: The primary aim is to achieve efficient utilization of main memory, ensuring that the operating system, applications, and other running processes have the memory they need to carry out their operations.
- Memory Tracking: Memory management keeps track of each memory location, regardless of whether it is allocated to a process or free, and decides which process will get memory at what time.
Techniques and Schemes
Memory management techniques can be classified into various categories, including contiguous memory management schemes, paging, segmentation, and virtual memory. These techniques and schemes play a crucial role in optimizing memory usage and ensuring that the CPU can efficiently access the instructions and data it needs to execute various processes.
In summary, memory management is a critical aspect of operating systems, ensuring that the limited main memory available in a computer system is effectively managed to support the execution of multiple processes simultaneously.
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