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Operating System (OS) is one of the core software programs that runs on the hardware
and makes it usable for the user to interact with the hardware so that they can send
commands (input) and receive results (output). It provides a consistent environment for
other software to execute commands. So we can say that the OS acts at the center
through which the system hardware, other softwares, and the user communicate. The
following figure shows the basic working of the operating system and how it utilizes
different hardware or resources.
Operating system serves many functions but I will discuss about the major functions
which all operating systems have.
An OS displays structure/directories for data management. We can view file and folder
listings and manipulate on those files and folders like (move, copy, rename, delete, and
many others).
OS monitors the health of our system’s hardware, giving us an idea of how well (or not)
it’s performing. We can see how busy our CPU is, or how quickly our hard drives retrieve
data, or how much data our network card is sending etc. and it also monitors system
activity for malware.
Application developers often do not have direct access to the system calls, but can
access them through an application programming interface (API). The functions that are
included in the API invoke the actual system calls. By using the API, certain benefits
can be gained:
Portability: as long a system supports an API, any program using that API can
compile and run.
Ease of Use: using the API can be significantly easier then using the actual
system call.
File Management
Some common system calls are create, delete, read, write, reposition, or close. Also,
there is a need to determine the file attributes – get and set file attribute. Many times
the OS provides an API to make these system calls.
Device Management
User programs request the device, and when finished they release the device. Similar
to files, we can read, write, and reposition the device.
Information Management
Some system calls exist purely for transferring information between the user program
and the operating system. An example of this is time, or date.
The OS also keeps information about all its processes and provides system calls to
report this information.
Communication