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

Question 1

In the process lifecycle, which state indicates that the process has completed its execution?

Accepted Answer

Terminated

Answer

New

Answer

Ready

Answer

Running

Question 2

Which scheduling algorithm assigns processes to the CPU on a first-come, first-served basis, without any preemption?

Accepted Answer

First-Come, First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

Round Robin Scheduling

Question 3

What is the fundamental advantage of using priority scheduling?

Accepted Answer

It gives higher priority to processes that are considered more important

Answer

It ensures equal resource allocation to all processes

Answer

It minimizes the average waiting time of processes

Answer

It prevents starvation of any process

Question 4

What is the primary purpose of a process control block (PCB) in an operating system?

Accepted Answer

It stores information describing the state of a process, its resource requirements, and its execution history

Answer

It manages the allocation and deallocation of memory

Answer

It facilitates communication and synchronization between processes

Answer

It provides a graphical user interface for interacting with the process

Question 5

What is the key difference in the design philosophy of time-sharing and real-time operating systems?

Accepted Answer

Time-sharing systems prioritize responsiveness, while real-time systems emphasize predictability

Answer

Real-time systems are designed for multi-user environments, while time-sharing systems are tailored for single-user systems

Answer

Time-sharing systems use dynamic memory allocation, while real-time systems use static memory allocation

Answer

Real-time systems are exclusively used in embedded devices, while time-sharing systems are used in general-purpose computers

Question 6

What is the main objective of a context switch in an operating system?

Accepted Answer

To preserve and restore the state of one process before switching to another process

Answer

To assign memory to a new process that is being created

Answer

To terminate a process that has completed its execution

Answer

To handle hardware-generated interrupts

Question 7

What is the term used to describe a situation where multiple processes are blocked indefinitely, waiting for each other to release resources?

Accepted Answer

Deadlock

Answer

Resource starvation

Answer

Priority inversion

Answer

Race condition

Question 8

Which technique involves organizing resources in a specific order to prevent deadlock in operating systems?

Accepted Answer

Resource ordering

Answer

Mutual exclusion

Answer

Preemption

Answer

Timeout

Question 9

First-Come First-Served (FCFS) scheduling is characterized by:

Accepted Answer

Non-preemptive scheduling based on process arrival time

Answer

Preemptive scheduling based on process priority

Answer

Non-preemptive scheduling based on shortest execution time

Answer

Preemptive scheduling based on remaining execution time

Question 10

A key advantage of priority scheduling is:

Accepted Answer

Prioritizing important processes

Answer

Ensuring fairness to all processes

Answer

Minimizing average waiting time

Answer

Maximizing CPU utilization

Question 11

Which scheduling algorithm is most suitable for real-time systems?

Accepted Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

FCFS

Answer

SJF

Answer

Time Sharing

Question 12

The purpose of a context switch is to:

Accepted Answer

Save the state of the current process and load the state of the new process

Answer

Allocate memory to a new process

Answer

Schedule a new process for execution

Answer

Terminate a running process

Question 13

Which of the following is **not** a type of process synchronization primitive?

Accepted Answer

Messages

Answer

Semaphores

Answer

Locks

Answer

Mutexes

Question 14

Which scheduling algorithm assigns the highest priority to the job with the shortest expected runtime?

Accepted Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

Round-Robin Scheduling

Question 15

What is the primary responsibility of a process scheduler?

Accepted Answer

Decide which process should run next

Answer

Manage the allocation of resources to processes

Answer

Terminate processes that have completed execution

Answer

Create new processes

Question 16

Which of the following is an advantage of priority scheduling?

Accepted Answer

Prevents starvation of important processes

Answer

Ensures fairness among all processes

Answer

Reduces average waiting time

Answer

Improves system throughput

Question 17

What is the term used to describe the time period during which a process is waiting for resources to become available?

Accepted Answer

Blocking

Answer

Context switch

Answer

Scheduling

Answer

Dispatching

Question 18

What is the main difference between FCFS and SJF scheduling algorithms?

Accepted Answer

FCFS prioritizes processes based on arrival time, while SJF prioritizes based on execution time.

Answer

SJF prioritizes processes based on arrival time, while FCFS prioritizes based on execution time.

Answer

FCFS is non-preemptive, while SJF is preemptive.

Answer

SJF is non-preemptive, while FCFS is preemptive.

Question 19

Which of the following correctly describes the "Ready" state for a process in an operating system?

Accepted Answer

The process is waiting for CPU resources.

Answer

The process is executing on the CPU.

Answer

The process has completed execution.

Answer

The process is waiting for I/O operations.

Question 20

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

Accepted Answer

To manage the allocation of CPU time to processes.

Answer

To create and terminate processes.

Answer

To handle I/O operations.

Answer

To ensure fair resource allocation.

Question 21

Which advantage is offered by preemptive scheduling algorithms compared to non-preemptive algorithms?

Accepted Answer

Improved system performance.

Answer

Lower memory usage.

Answer

Increased stability.

Answer

Simplified implementation.

Question 22

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

Accepted Answer

To preserve and restore the process state during a process change.

Answer

To grant exclusive access to system resources.

Answer

To synchronize access to shared data.

Answer

To manage I/O operations.

Question 23

Which data structure is commonly employed to implement priority queues in operating system schedulers?

Accepted Answer

Binary heap

Answer

Array

Answer

Linked list

Answer

Hash table

Question 24

Describe the primary distinction between short-term and long-term schedulers in an operating system.

Accepted Answer

Short-term schedulers manage currently running processes, while long-term schedulers handle process creation and termination.

Answer

Short-term schedulers prioritize processes based on CPU time, while long-term schedulers consider memory allocation.

Answer

Short-term schedulers use preemptive algorithms, while long-term schedulers use non-preemptive algorithms.

Answer

Short-term schedulers have shorter time slices compared to long-term schedulers.

Question 25

Which page replacement algorithm is considered optimal because it replaces the page that will remain unused for the longest period in the future?

Accepted Answer

Optimal

Answer

FIFO

Answer

LRU

Question 26

Which process state indicates that the process is not currently executing but is waiting for an event to occur?

Accepted Answer

Waiting

Answer

Running

Answer

Ready

Answer

Terminated

Question 27

In a multi-threaded environment, which part of a process is shared among all threads?

Accepted Answer

Heap

Answer

Stack

Answer

Program Counter

Answer

Thread ID

Question 28

Which scheduling algorithm allocates a fixed time slot for each process and employs a circular queue to decide which process to run next?

Accepted Answer

Round Robin

Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

Priority

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT a mechanism used for synchronization in operating systems?

Accepted Answer

Thread synchronization

Answer

Mutexes

Answer

Semaphores

Answer

Locks

Question 30

What is the primary purpose of a Process Control Block (PCB)?

Accepted Answer

To store information about a process, including its state, memory usage, and resource allocation

Answer

To decide which process to execute next

Answer

To manage memory

Answer

To handle input and output operations

Question 31

Which of the following is an advantage of using a priority-based scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

It provides faster response times for important tasks

Answer

It ensures fairness among processes

Answer

It maximizes overall system throughput

Answer

It prevents starvation

Question 32

What is the primary objective of deadlock prevention?

Accepted Answer

To ensure that deadlocks cannot occur

Answer

To detect and resolve deadlocks quickly

Answer

To minimize the impact of deadlocks

Answer

To avoid the need for deadlock recovery

Question 33

Which of the following is a key characteristic of a real-time operating system?

Accepted Answer

It guarantees timely responses to events

Answer

It prioritizes non-real-time tasks

Answer

It allows users to interact with the system in real-time

Answer

It is used in general-purpose computing applications

Question 34

What is the primary purpose of a page table in virtual memory management?

Accepted Answer

To translate virtual memory addresses into physical memory addresses

Answer

To store the entire contents of a process in memory

Answer

To manage the allocation and deallocation of memory

Answer

To protect memory from unauthorized access

Question 35

Which of the following factors does NOT influence the performance of a scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

Memory size

Answer

Process arrival rate

Answer

CPU burst time

Answer

I/O requests

Question 36

Which scheduling algorithm assigns a priority to each process and grants execution based on the priority?

Accepted Answer

Priority Scheduling

Answer

First-Come, First-Served

Answer

Short Job First

Answer

Round Robin

Question 37

Which of the following is a characteristic of preemptive scheduling?

Accepted Answer

The currently running process can be interrupted to run a higher-priority process

Answer

The running process must complete its execution before another process can run

Answer

Non-preemptive Scheduling

Answer

Shortest Job First

Question 38

What is the fundamental difference between multithreading and multiprocessing?

Accepted Answer

Multithreading shares the same memory space, while multiprocessing does not

Answer

Multiprocessing shares the same memory space, while multithreading does not

Answer

Multithreading has higher overhead than multiprocessing

Answer

Multiprocessing has higher overhead than multithreading

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT a typical metric used to measure process performance?

Accepted Answer

Reliability

Answer

Throughput

Answer

Response time

Answer

Utilization

Question 40

What is the primary function of a semaphore?

Accepted Answer

To synchronize access to shared resources and prevent race conditions

Answer

To manage process priorities

Answer

To terminate processes

Answer

To create new processes

Question 41

What is the key difference between a user-level thread and a kernel-level thread?

Accepted Answer

Kernel-level threads are managed by the kernel, while user-level threads are managed by the user

Answer

User-level threads are managed by the kernel, while kernel-level threads are managed by the user

Answer

User-level threads are more efficient than kernel-level threads

Answer

Kernel-level threads are more efficient than user-level threads

Question 42

Which scheduling algorithm selects the process with the shortest remaining CPU time to run next?

Accepted Answer

Shortest-Job-First

Answer

First-Come-First-Served

Answer

Round-Robin

Answer

Priority Scheduling

Question 43

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

Accepted Answer

To store information about the process's state, resources, and other attributes

Answer

To schedule processes

Answer

To terminate processes

Answer

To handle input and output operations

Question 44

What is the main goal of a round-robin scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

Ensure fairness among processes

Answer

Maximize CPU utilization

Answer

Minimize average waiting time

Answer

Prioritize important processes

Question 45

Which of the following is NOT a criterion used to evaluate scheduling algorithms?

Accepted Answer

Reliability

Answer

Throughput

Answer

Fairness

Answer

Response time

Question 46

Which of the following factors does NOT influence the choice of a scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

Personal preferences of the system administrator

Answer

Hardware architecture

Answer

Workload characteristics

Answer

Desired performance metrics

Question 47

A process is considered to be in the 'Waiting' state when it is:

Accepted Answer

Waiting for a resource to complete its execution

Answer

Actively executing instructions

Answer

Terminated and removed from the system

Answer

Ready to execute but waiting for the CPU

Question 48

Which scheduling algorithm assigns processes to the CPU in the order in which they arrive, also known as 'first-in, first-out'?

Accepted Answer

First-Come First-Served (FCFS)

Answer

Shortest Job First (SJF)

Answer

Priority-based

Answer

Round Robin

Question 49

What is the main purpose of a Process Control Block (PCB)?

Accepted Answer

To store and manage information such as process state, memory allocation, and I/O status

Answer

To perform scheduling decisions

Answer

To execute instructions of a process

Answer

To handle memory and resource allocation

Question 50

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

Accepted Answer

Preemptive scheduling allows the CPU to be taken away from a running process, while non-preemptive scheduling does not.

Answer

Preemptive scheduling prioritizes shorter processes, while non-preemptive scheduling prioritizes longer processes.

Question 51

Which of the following is an advantage of using a priority-based scheduling algorithm?

Accepted Answer

It ensures that more important processes are executed first

Answer

It maximizes CPU utilization

Answer

It results in lower average waiting time for all processes

Question 52

What is the objective of a deadlock avoidance algorithm?

Accepted Answer

To prevent deadlocks from occurring in the system by analyzing resource requests and availability

Answer

To improve system performance by reducing wait times

Answer

To detect and recover from deadlocks when they occur

Question 53

For a deadlock to occur, which of the following conditions must be satisfied?

Accepted Answer

Mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption, and circular wait

Answer

Mutual exclusion, release and wait, no preemption, and circular wait

Answer

Mutual exclusion, hold and wait, preemption, and circular wait

Question 54

What distinguishes logical memory from physical memory in a computer system?

Accepted Answer

Logical memory is an abstraction managed by the operating system, while physical memory refers to the actual hardware memory installed in the computer

Answer

Logical memory is used for temporary storage, while physical memory is used for permanent storage