Assignment: Operating System Theory Questions

1. What is an Operating System, and what are its types?

Answer: An Operating System (OS) is software that manages hardware and software resources,
providing common services for programs.

o Types: Batch OS, Time-Sharing OS, Distributed OS, Real-Time OS, Multi-User OS,
Embedded OS.

2. What is Shell Scripting? Provide an example of a basic shell command.

Answer: Shell scripting is writing commands in a file to automate tasks in the command-line interface
(CLI).

o Example: echo "Hello World" displays "Hello World" on the screen.

3. What is a Virtual Machine?

Answer: A virtual machine (VM) is a software emulation of a computer system that allows multiple
OSs to run on one hardware setup, providing isolation and resource management.

4. Difference between Monolithic and Micro Kernel?

Answer:

o Monolithic Kernel: All OS services run within one large kernel, enhancing
performance but limiting modularity.

o Microkernel: Only essential services run in the kernel, while others operate in user
space, improving modularity and security.

5. Explain the Evolution of Operating Systems (Generations).

Answer:

o First Generation: No OS, simple serial processing.

o Second Generation: Batch processing.

o Third Generation: Multiprogramming and time-sharing.

o Fourth Generation: Distributed systems.

6. List Functions of an Operating System.

Answer: OS functions include process management, memory management, file management, I/O
management, security, and user interface.
 7. What is Multithreading?

Answer: Multithreading is concurrent execution of multiple threads within a single process,

8. What is a Process & Process States?

Answer: A process is a program in execution.

o States: New, Ready, Running, Waiting, Terminated.

9. What is PCB?

Answer: A Process Control Block (PCB) is a data structure containing information about a process,
such as ID, state, and priority.

10. Difference between Process and Thread.

Answer:

o Process: Independent unit of execution, with its own memory.

o Thread: Lightweight unit of execution within a process, sharing memory.

11. What is Scheduling & Types of Scheduling?

Answer: Scheduling is the process of deciding which task to execute next.

o Types: Long-term, short-term, medium-term scheduling.

12. Explain Scheduling Algorithms.

Answer:

o FIFO: First-come, first-served.

o SJF: Shortest job first.

o Priority: Based on process priority.

o Round Robin: Time-slice based rotation.

13. What is Scheduling Criteria?

Answer: Criteria include CPU utilization, throughput, turnaround time, waiting time, and response
time.
 14. What is a Thread and its Types?

Answer: A thread is a lightweight process for concurrent execution.

o Types: User threads, kernel threads.

15. What is Context Switching?

Answer: Context switching is saving and restoring the state of a process for multitasking.

16. What is a System Call?

Answer: A system call is a program's request to the OS for services like file operations.

17. Comparison between Long-term, Short-term, and Medium-term Schedulers.

Answer:

o Long-term: Loads processes into memory.

o Short-term: Selects processes for CPU execution.

o Medium-term: Manages process swapping in/out of memory.

18. Explain fork() System Call.

Answer: fork() creates a new child process, duplicating the parent.

19. What is Mutual Exclusion and its Conditions?

Answer: Mutual exclusion ensures only one process accesses a resource at a time.

o Conditions: Mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption, circular wait.

20. What is Deadlock?

Answer: Deadlock is a state where processes are blocked indefinitely, waiting for each other’s
resources.

21. What are Steps to Detect & Prevent Deadlock?

Answer: Use resource allocation graphs, avoid circular wait, and monitor resource allocation.
 22. What is IPC (Inter-Process Communication)?

Answer: IPC allows processes to communicate and synchronize.

23. Explain Process Synchronization.

Answer: Synchronization ensures correct execution order for shared resources, preventing data
inconsistency.

24. What is the Critical Section Problem?

Answer: Ensures mutual exclusion, progress, and bounded waiting in concurrent resource access.

25. List Classical Synchronization Problems.

Answer: Producer-consumer, reader-writer, and dining philosophers problems.

26. Explain Deadlock Avoidance, Prevention, and Recovery.

Answer:

o Avoidance: Keeps system in a safe state.

o Prevention: Removes one deadlock condition.

o Recovery: Terminates or preempts processes/resources.

27. What is Safe State and Unsafe State?

Answer: A safe state ensures resources can be allocated without deadlock; unsafe states may lead to
deadlock.

28. Explain Deadlock Avoidance Algorithm.

Answer: Banker's algorithm evaluates each resource request to ensure a safe state.

29. How Does Memory Management Work in OS?

Answer: Allocates and deallocates memory to processes, manages RAM and swap space.

30. Explain Memory Partitioning (Fixed vs. Dynamic).

Answer:

o Fixed: Predefined memory sizes.

31. What is Fragmentation? Difference between Internal and External.

Answer:

o Internal: Wasted space within allocated memory.

o External: Wasted space between allocations.

32. What is Segmentation?

Answer: Divides memory into variable-sized segments based on program structure.

33. What is Paging and Demand Paging?

Answer: Paging divides memory into fixed-size pages; demand paging loads pages only when
needed.

34. What is Virtual Memory?

Answer: Extends RAM using disk space to run larger applications.

35. What are Page Replacement Strategies?

Answer: Algorithms like FIFO, LRU, and Optimal manage which pages to replace in memory.

36. What is Disk Scheduling and Disk Scheduling Algorithm?

Answer: Disk scheduling optimizes I/O request order.

o Algorithms: FCFS, SSTF, SCAN, C-SCAN, LOOK, C-LOOK.

37. Explain File, File Operations, and File Types.

Answer: A file is a data collection.

o Operations: Create, read, write, delete.

o Types: Text, binary, executable.

38. What are File Directories and their Types?

Answer: Hierarchical structure for file organization.

39. Explain I/O Buffering and Types.

Answer: Temporary storage for data during I/O operations.

o Types: Single, double, circular buffer.

40. Explain File Allocation Methods.

Answer: Methods for organizing file storage.

o Types: Contiguous, linked, indexed.

41. How Does Secondary Storage Management Work?

Answer: Manages data storage and retrieval on devices like HDD, SSD.

42. Explain Compiler and its Phases.

Answer: A compiler translates source code to machine code.

o Phases: Lexical analysis, syntax analysis, semantic analysis, optimization, code

43. Difference between Application Program and System Program.

Answer:

o Application Program: User-focused software.

o System Program: Provides OS functionality.

44. What is an Assembler and its Types?

Answer: Translates assembly language to machine code.

o Types: Single-pass, multi-pass.

45. What are Language Processors?

Answer: Tools (compilers, interpreters, assemblers) that convert code to executable form.

46. Explain Linker and Macros.

o Linker: Combines object files into an executable.

o Macros: Reusable code snippets.

47. Difference between Interpreter and Compiler.

Answer:

o Interpreter: Executes line-by-line.

o Compiler: Translates the entire code to machine language before execution.

48. What is Assembly Language and Assembler Function?

Answer: A low-level language with symbolic instructions; an assembler translates it to machine code.

49. Difference between Linking and Loading.

Answer:

o Linking: Combines code modules.

o Loading: Loads executable into memory.

50. Explain Loaders and their Types.

Answer: Loaders place programs into memory for execution.

o Types: Absolute, relocatable, dynamic.

51. What is Relocation and Linking Linkages?

Answer: Relocation adjusts addresses during loading, linking resolves external references.