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Computer Science Articles
Page 51 of 53
Application Programs vs System Programs
There are mainly two categories of programs i.e. application programs and system programs. A diagram that demonstrates their place in the logical computer hierarchy is as follows −Application ProgramsThese programs perform a particular function directly for the users. Some of the common application programs include Email, web browsers, gaming software, word processors, graphics software, media player etc.All of these programs provide an application to the end users, so they are known as application programs. For example: a web browser is used to find information while a gaming software is used to play games.The requests for service and application communication systems ...
Read MoreWhat is a Debugger Program?
A debugger program is one that allows the user to view another program line by line. This allows the user to identify incorrect code and find out how a program flows. The debugger lets the user see how their program is viewed by the computer.A debugger is very useful to find semantic errors in the program. So, it is necessary as it helps the programmer visualize program flow. A debugger may take practise to use, but it is well worth it as it reduces the time taken to perfect a program.Features of a Debugger ProgramDebugger programs offer basic features such ...
Read MoreClustered Systems
Clustered systems are similar to parallel systems as they both have multiple CPUs. However a major difference is that clustered systems are created by two or more individual computer systems merged together. Basically, they have independent computer systems with a common storage and the systems work together.A diagram to better illustrate this is −The clustered systems are a combination of hardware clusters and software clusters. The hardware clusters help in sharing of high performance disks between the systems. The software clusters makes all the systems work together .Each node in the clustered systems contains the cluster software. This software monitors ...
Read MoreComputer Storage Structure
Computer Storage contains many computer components that are used to store data. It is traditionally divided into primary storage, secondary storage and tertiary storage. Details about these storage types and devices used in them are as follows −Primary StoragePrimary storage is also known as the main memory and is the memory directly accessible by the CPU. Some primary storage devices are −ROMROM is read only memory. This memory cannot be changed, it can only be read as required. Since ROM is unchangeable memory, it is used by data and programs that are frequently required and seldom changed, like the system ...
Read MoreI/O Systems and Subsystems
I/O devices are very important in the computer systems.They provide users the means of interacting with the system. So there is a separate I/O system devoted to handling the I/O devices.The different Components of the I/O systems are −I/O HardwareThere are many I/O devices handled by the operating system such as mouse, keyboard, disk drive etc. There are different device drivers that can be connected to the operating system to handle a specific device. The device controller is an interface between the device and the device driver.A diagram to represent this is −I/O Application InterfaceThe user applications can access all ...
Read MoreSupervisor Mode (Privileged Mode)
Supervisor mode or privileged mode is a computer system mode in which all instructions such as privileged instructions can be performed by the processor. Some of these privileged instructions are interrupt instructions, input output management etcThe privilege levels of different components in a system is given as follows −The kernel is the most privileged part of the computer system. There are some privileged instructions that can only be executed in kernel mode or supervisor mode. The the privilege reduces for device drivers and applications respectively.Features of Supervisor ModeSome of the important features of supervisor mode are as follows −Supervisor mode ...
Read MoreDual-Mode and Multi-Mode Operation in Operating System
There are two modes of operation in the operating system to make sure it works correctly. These are user mode and kernel mode.A diagram that illustrates the transition from user mode to kernel mode and back again is as follows −The following are the modes −User Mode:The system is in user mode when the operating system is running a user application such as handling a text editor. The transition from user mode to kernel mode occurs when the application requests the help of operating system or an interrupt or a system call occurs.The mode bit is set to 1 in ...
Read MoreOpen Source Operating Systems
Open Source operating systems are released under a license where the copyright holder allows others to study, change as well as distribute the software to other people. This can be done for any reason. The different open source operating system available in the market are −CosmosThis is an open source operating system written mostly in programming language C#. Its full form is C# Open Source Managed Operating System. Till 2016, Cosmos did not intend to be a fully fledged operating system but a system that allowed other developers to easily build their own operating systems. It also hid the inner ...
Read MoreFile System Management
Files are used to provide a uniform view of data storage by the operating system. All the files are mapped onto physical devices that are usually non volatile so data is safe in the case of system failure.File AttributesThe attributes of a file may vary a little on different operating systems. However, the common file attributes are −NameThis denotes the symbolic name of the file. The file name is the only attribute that is readable by humans easily.IdentifierThis denotes the file name for the system. It is usually a number and uniquely identifies a file in the file system.TypeIf there ...
Read MoreHot Standby Mode
The hot standby mode is a fail-safe in which a hot standby component is part of an active system. If any component of the system fails, the hot standby component takes its place. In general, a hot standby can refer to any device, system etc. that overtakes operation from a failed device and reduces the startup delay that would otherwise be huge.A figure to further explain the hot standby mode is as follows −In general, it is expected that a system will have some failures. So, a hot standby is necessary to combat these failures.At the extreme, a hot standby ...
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