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An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting software for cost allocation of processor time, mass storage, peripherals, and other ...
B. binary semaphore: See semaphore. booting: In computing, booting (also known as booting up) is the initial set of operations that a computer performs after electrical power is switched on or when the computer is reset. This can take tens of seconds and typically involves performing a power-on self-test, locating and initializing peripheral ...
Process identifier. In computing, the process identifier (a.k.a. process ID or PID) is a number used by most operating system kernels —such as those of Unix, macOS and Windows —to uniquely identify an active process. This number may be used as a parameter in various function calls, allowing processes to be manipulated, such as adjusting the ...
Kernel (operating system) The kernel is a computer program at the core of a computer 's operating system and generally has complete control over everything in the system. The kernel is also responsible for preventing and mitigating conflicts between different processes. [1] It is the portion of the operating system code that is always resident ...
Symbolic link. In computing, a symbolic link (also symlink or soft link) is a file whose purpose is to point to a file or directory (called the "target") by specifying a path thereto. [1] Symbolic links are supported by POSIX and by most Unix-like operating systems, such as FreeBSD, Linux, and macOS. Limited support also exists in Windows 7 and ...
Process control block. A process control block (PCB), also sometimes called a process descriptor, is a data structure used by a computer operating system to store all the information about a process. When a process is created (initialized or installed), the operating system creates a corresponding process control block, which specifies and ...
Path (computing) A path (or filepath, file path, pathname, or similar) is a string of characters used to uniquely identify a location in a directory structure. It is composed by following the directory tree hierarchy in which components, separated by a delimiting character, represent each directory. The delimiting character is most commonly the ...
Mandatory access control. In computer security, mandatory access control (MAC) refers to a type of access control by which a secured environment (e.g., an operating system or a database) constrains the ability of a subject or initiator to access or modify on an object or target. [1] In the case of operating systems, the subject is a process or ...