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System Architecture Processes Threads Memory Management And More Developer

Gerald Bell

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Published in Windows Internals Part 1: System Architecture Processes Threads Memory Management And More (Developer Reference)

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System architecture is the conceptual design and fundamental structure of a system. It encompasses the hardware and software components, as well as the relationships between them. A well-designed system architecture can improve performance, reliability, and security. It can also make it easier to maintain and upgrade the system.

Windows Internals, Part 1: System architecture, processes, threads, memory management, and more (Developer Reference)

by Mark E. Russinovich

4.8 out of 5

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Processes

A process is a running instance of a program. It has its own memory space and resources, and it can be scheduled independently by the operating system. Processes are created when a program is launched, and they are terminated when the program exits.

Processes can be either user-level or kernel-level. User-level processes run in user mode, while kernel-level processes run in kernel mode. Kernel-level processes have more privileges than user-level processes, and they can access the hardware directly.

Threads

A thread is a lightweight process. It shares the same memory space and resources as the process that created it, but it can be scheduled independently. Threads are often used to improve performance by parallelizing tasks.

Threads can be either user-level or kernel-level. User-level threads are created and managed by the user-level process that created them. Kernel-level threads are created and managed by the operating system.

Memory Management

Memory management is the process of allocating and deallocating memory for processes. The operating system is responsible for managing memory, and it uses a variety of techniques to do so.

One common memory management technique is paging. Paging divides memory into fixed-size pages. When a process needs memory, the operating system allocates a page to it. If the process needs more memory, the operating system can allocate additional pages.

Another common memory management technique is segmentation. Segmentation divides memory into variable-size segments. Each segment can be used for a different purpose, such as code, data, or stack.

Other Developer Topics

In addition to the topics discussed above, this article also covers a variety of other developer topics, including:

Concurrency
Synchronization
Deadlocks
Performance tuning
Security

This article is a valuable resource for developers who want to understand the fundamentals of system architecture. It provides a comprehensive overview of the topic, and it covers a variety of important developer topics.

Windows Internals, Part 1: System architecture, processes, threads, memory management, and more (Developer Reference)

by Mark E. Russinovich

4.8 out of 5