Linux › Section A · The big picture › Topic A.2
Hardware: main memory and state
The kernel, every running program and every piece of data being worked on exist as patterns of bits in main memory. Seeing memory this way explains what people mean by the state of a system, and why the kernel spends so much effort managing memory.
In this topic
- Everything running lives in memory
- Bits, bytes and addresses
- The processor works on memory
- Input and output pass through memory
- What state means
- Worked example: counting states
- Describing state in words
- Images: state captured as a pattern
- Looking at memory on Linux
- Worked example: reading free output
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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