Process Concepts and Scheduling: A Comprehensive Guide for Computer Science Students

Question 1

In modern operating systems, which of these is NOT a typical process state?

Accepted Answer

Paused

Answer

Executing

Answer

Waiting

Answer

Terminated

Question 2

What is the primary purpose of a process context switch in an operating system?

Accepted Answer

To preserve the state of the current process before switching to another process

Answer

To allocate memory for a new process

Answer

To manage interrupts

Answer

To terminate a process

Question 3

In a Round-Robin scheduling algorithm, what is the purpose of the time slice?

Accepted Answer

Determines the amount of time a process can execute before being preempted

Answer

Specifies the time a process must wait before it is scheduled

Answer

Indicates the duration a process remains in the running state

Answer

Defines the time a process spends in the blocked state

Question 4

What is the primary responsibility of the dispatcher in process management?

Accepted Answer

Selecting the next process to execute from the ready queue

Answer

Creating and terminating processes

Answer

Managing memory allocation for processes

Answer

Handling interrupts and system calls

Question 5

Which state in the process lifecycle indicates that the process is currently being executed by the CPU?

Accepted Answer

Running

Answer

Ready

Answer

Waiting

Answer

Terminated

Question 6

What is the purpose of a context switch in a preemptive scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

To save and restore the state of the current process

Answer

To allocate additional memory to the current process

Answer

To terminate the current process

Answer

To prevent the current process from monopolizing the CPU

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of multiprogramming?

Accepted Answer

Guaranteed response time

Answer

Increased CPU utilization

Answer

Reduced average turnaround time

Answer

Improved system efficiency

Question 8

What is the function of the thread control block (TCB) in a process?

Accepted Answer

Stores information about the process, including its state, priority, and memory usage

Answer

Controls the execution of the process

Answer

Handles inter-process communication

Answer

Manages the process's file descriptors

Question 9

What is process synchronization and why is it important in operating systems?

Accepted Answer

Process synchronization coordinates multiple processes to prevent conflicts when accessing shared resources, ensuring data integrity.

Answer

Process synchronization assigns memory segments to processes to avoid memory conflicts.

Answer

Process synchronization is not significant in operating systems as processes can operate independently.

Question 10

Which scheduling algorithm assigns the CPU to the process with the shortest remaining execution time?

Accepted Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Round Robin

Answer

Priority

Question 11

What is the term for a process that is unable to continue execution due to an event?

Accepted Answer

Blocked

Answer

Active

Answer

Terminated

Answer

Running

Question 12

What is the key difference between preemptive and non-preemptive scheduling?

Accepted Answer

Preemptive scheduling allows for process interruption, while non-preemptive does not

Answer

Non-preemptive scheduling is more efficient than preemptive scheduling

Answer

Preemptive scheduling is used in real-time systems only

Answer

There is no distinction between preemptive and non-preemptive scheduling

Question 13

Among the scheduling algorithms, which one prioritizes processes that have been waiting the longest?

Accepted Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

Round-Robin

Question 14

What is the primary purpose of a context switch?

Accepted Answer

Preserving the state of a process before it's interrupted

Answer

Allocating memory to a new process

Answer

Terminating a process

Answer

Synchronizing multiple processes

Question 15

Which algorithm determines the next process to run based on its priority?

Accepted Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

Lottery Scheduling

Answer

Round-Robin

Answer

Shortest Burst Time First

Question 16

What is the primary function of a process control block (PCB)?

Accepted Answer

Storing information related to a process

Answer

Executing a process

Answer

Facilitating communication between processes

Answer

Handling input/output operations

Question 17

What is the term for a situation where two or more processes are perpetually waiting for each other to release resources?

Accepted Answer

Deadlock

Answer

Infinite loop

Answer

System failure

Answer

Security vulnerability

Question 18

What is the primary purpose of a process descriptor?

Accepted Answer

To store and manage information about a process

Answer

To handle inter-process communication

Answer

To manage memory allocation

Answer

To schedule processes for execution

Question 19

Which scheduling algorithm gives priority to processes with shorter execution times?

Accepted Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

Round-Robin Scheduling

Question 20

What is the primary purpose of a process control block (PCB)?

Accepted Answer

To store and manage information about a running process

Answer

To manage memory allocation for a process

Answer

To facilitate inter-process communication

Answer

To handle process scheduling

Question 21

What is the primary responsibility of a scheduler in an operating system?

Accepted Answer

To allocate CPU time to processes equitably

Answer

To manage memory resources efficiently

Answer

To facilitate communication between processes

Answer

To handle input/output operations

Question 22

What is a significant disadvantage of the First-Come First-Served (FCFS) scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

Potential starvation of shorter processes

Answer

Inefficient use of CPU resources

Answer

Increased overhead due to frequent context switching

Answer

Inability to handle real-time processes

Question 23

In Unix-based operating systems, which system call is used to create a new process?

Accepted Answer

fork()

Answer

create()

Answer

exec()

Answer

wait()

Question 24

What is the primary purpose of context switching in a multi-tasking operating system?

Accepted Answer

To preserve and restore the state of a process when switching it out of the CPU

Answer

To allocate memory to new processes

Answer

To handle input/output operations

Answer

To terminate processes

Question 25

Which scheduling algorithm prioritizes short-running processes?

Accepted Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

First-in, first-out (FIFO)

Answer

Round-robin

Answer

Priority

Question 26

What is the primary function of a context switch?

Accepted Answer

To preserve the state of one process and load the state of another

Answer

To terminate a running process

Answer

To create a new process

Answer

To change the priority level of a process

Question 27

What is the primary objective of a real-time operating system?

Accepted Answer

To ensure predictable and timely responses for critical tasks

Answer

To maximize system throughput

Answer

To minimize latency

Answer

To support multiprogramming

Question 28

The algorithm used to determine the order in which processes are executed on a single processor is known as:

Accepted Answer

Scheduling algorithm

Answer

Memory management algorithm

Answer

File system algorithm

Answer

Concurrency control algorithm

Question 29

Which of the following scheduling algorithms prioritizes shorter processes over longer processes?

Accepted Answer

Shortest job first (SJF)

Answer

First-come first-served (FCFS)

Answer

Round-robin

Answer

Priority scheduling

Question 30

The data structure that stores information about each process in the system, including its state, priority, and resource usage, is called:

Accepted Answer

Process control block (PCB)

Answer

Inode

Answer

Page table

Answer

Interrupt descriptor table

Question 31

The process of switching from one process to another, which involves saving the state of the first process and loading the state of the second process, is known as:

Accepted Answer

Context switch

Answer

Process creation

Answer

Process termination

Answer

Interrupt handling

Question 32

The process of creating a new process is typically performed by a system call named:

Accepted Answer

Fork

Answer

Join

Answer

Exec

Answer

Kill

Question 33

A process that has completed its execution and is waiting for its parent process to finish before it can be removed from the system is in the:

Accepted Answer

Zombie state

Answer

Running state

Answer

Waiting state

Answer

Terminated state

Question 34

What is the defining characteristic of the Round-Robin scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

Each process is given a fixed time slice to execute.

Answer

Priority is given to processes that have waited the longest.

Answer

Resources are allocated based on estimated execution time.

Answer

Processes with a larger memory footprint are favored.

Question 35

Which scheduling algorithm is non-preemptive and allocates the CPU to processes based on their priority?

Accepted Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

Round Robin (RR)

Question 36

What is the primary goal of memory management in an operating system?

Accepted Answer

To efficiently allocate and manage memory resources among multiple processes.

Answer

To handle input and output operations.

Answer

To ensure data integrity and consistency.

Question 37

What is the crucial purpose of a context switch in an operating system?

Accepted Answer

To preserve the state of the current process and load the state of the new process in order to switch execution.

Answer

To terminate a process.

Answer

To create a new process.

Question 38

Which algorithm is specifically designed to prevent deadlocks?

Accepted Answer

Banker's Algorithm

Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Question 39

Can you differentiate between a logical address and a physical address in a computer system?

Accepted Answer

A logical address is a virtual address generated by the CPU, while a physical address is the actual location of data in physical memory.

Answer

A physical address is a virtual address generated by the CPU, while a logical address is the actual location of data in physical memory.

Question 40

Which of the following is a disadvantage of implementing virtual memory?

Accepted Answer

Increased memory overhead due to the maintenance of page tables.

Answer

Increased security

Answer

Improved performance

Answer

Simplified memory management

Question 41

What is the main function of a page table in virtual memory management?

Accepted Answer

To translate virtual addresses into their corresponding physical addresses.

Answer

To manage the allocation of virtual memory.

Answer

To translate physical addresses into virtual addresses.

Answer

To store the contents of physical memory.

Question 42

Which of the following is NOT a typical reason for a process to transition from 'Running' to 'Blocked'?

Accepted Answer

Process completion

Answer

Waiting for I/O operation to complete

Answer

Requesting a resource held by another process

Question 43

What is the primary goal of a CPU scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

To optimize CPU utilization and system throughput

Answer

To minimize the number of active processes

Answer

To prevent deadlock situations

Question 44

The Shortest Job First (SJF) scheduling algorithm typically results in:

Accepted Answer

Minimized average waiting time for processes

Answer

Increased CPU utilization

Answer

Prioritization of I/O bound processes

Answer

Guaranteed completion of long-running processes

Question 45

Which component of a process control block (PCB) does NOT typically store information about:

Accepted Answer

The process's program code

Answer

The process's priority

Answer

The process's registers

Answer

The process's state

Question 46

What is the primary responsibility of the dispatcher in process management?

Accepted Answer

Granting the CPU to the process selected by the scheduler

Answer

Managing memory allocation

Answer

Handling system calls

Question 47

In a multilevel feedback queue scheduling algorithm, what is the purpose of promoting a process to a higher-priority queue?

Accepted Answer

To give priority to processes that have not received adequate CPU time

Answer

To isolate I/O intensive processes from CPU intensive processes

Answer

To penalize processes that consume excessive CPU resources

Question 48

What is a potential advantage of utilizing multiple processor cores in a scheduling system?

Accepted Answer

Enhanced system throughput due to concurrent execution of multiple processes

Answer

Reduced memory overhead for individual processes

Answer

Elimination of the need for context switching