Operating System Fundamentals Flashcards

Which scheduling algorithm can lead to starvation of low-priority processes?

Answer: Priority Scheduling

Priority Scheduling can starve low-priority processes if higher-priority processes continuously arrive.

What is a 'race condition' in operating systems?

Answer: An outcome that depends on the unpredictable sequence of thread execution

A race condition occurs when system behavior depends on the relative timing of events such as thread execution order.

Which of the following best describes a 'semaphore' in OS context?

Answer: A synchronization variable used to control access to shared resources

A semaphore is an integer variable used to solve critical section problems and synchronize concurrent processes.

What is the purpose of the Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB)?

Answer: To cache recent virtual-to-physical address translations

The TLB is a hardware cache that speeds up virtual address translation by storing recent page table entries.

In a multi-threaded process, what do threads share?

Answer: Code, data, and OS resources like open files

Threads within the same process share the code section, data section, and OS resources, but each has its own stack and registers.

What does the 'working set' model in virtual memory refer to?

Answer: The set of pages a process is actively using in a time window

The working set model tracks the pages a process has referenced recently to predict what pages it will need.

Which condition is NOT required for deadlock to occur?

Answer: Preemption

Deadlock requires mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption, and circular wait — preemption prevents deadlock, not causes it.