Operating System - Processes
Process
A process is basically a program in execution. The execution of a process must progress in a sequential
fashion.
A process is defined as an entity which represents the basic unit of work to be implemented in
the system.
To put it in simple terms, we write our computer programs in a text file and when we execute this
program, it becomes a process which performs all the tasks mentioned in the program.
When a program is loaded into the memory and it becomes a process, it can be divided into four sections
─ stack, heap, text and data. The following image shows a simplified layout of a process inside main
memory −
Program
A program is a piece of code which may be a single line or millions of lines. A computer program is
usually written by a computer programmer in a programming language. For example, here is a simple
program written in C programming language −
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
printf("Hello, World! \n");
return 0;
}
A computer program is a collection of instructions that performs a specific task when executed by a
computer. When we compare a program with a process, we can conclude that a process is a dynamic
instance of a computer program.
A part of a computer program that performs a well-defined task is known as an algorithm. A collection
of computer programs, libraries and related data are referred to as a software.
Process Life Cycle
When a process executes, it passes through different states. These stages may differ in different
operating systems, and the names of these states are also not standardized.
In general, a process can have one of the following five states at a time.
Process Control Block (PCB)
A Process Control Block is a data structure maintained by the Operating System for every process. The
PCB is identified by an integer process ID (PID). A PCB keeps all the information needed to keep track of
a process as listed below in the table −
The architecture of a PCB is completely dependent on Operating System and may contain different
information in different operating systems. Here is a simplified diagram of a PCB −
The PCB is maintained for a process throughout its lifetime, and is deleted once the process terminates.
