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IB Year 1 Higher Level Computer Science

Tuesday 21 March 2023 - Block 1
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Daily Note

 

Today we continue resource management!

  1. Please review the standards, found on this page
  2. You have not asked any questions?!? Please ask questions on this jamboard. I will review them each class.

Today's plan:

An operating system (OS) is the most crucial software that runs on a computer, as it manages and controls the entire system's resources and activities. In terms of managing memory, peripherals, and hardware interfaces, the OS has several key responsibilities:

  1. Memory management: The OS is responsible for allocating and tracking memory usage by different programs and processes. This involves:

    a. Allocation: The OS divides memory into segments and allocates them to various applications and processes as needed. This ensures that each program has enough memory to execute properly.

    b. Protection: The OS ensures that one application or process cannot access another's memory space without proper authorization, thereby preventing data corruption or system crashes.

    c. Virtual memory: The OS can extend the available memory by creating a virtual memory space, which is a portion of the hard disk used as if it were physical memory (RAM). This enables the computer to run larger applications or processes even when the physical memory is limited.

    d. Paging and swapping: The OS can move data between RAM and secondary storage (e.g., hard disk) to optimize the use of available memory. Paging refers to the process of transferring fixed-sized memory blocks (pages) between RAM and the hard disk, while swapping refers to transferring entire processes.

  2. Peripheral management: The OS is responsible for managing peripheral devices (e.g., keyboards, mice, printers, and storage devices) by:

    a. Device drivers: The OS uses device drivers, which are software components that enable communication between the OS and peripheral devices. Drivers translate the OS's instructions into a language that the specific device can understand.

    b. Input/output (I/O) scheduling: The OS schedules and prioritizes I/O operations for various devices to ensure efficient data transfer and to avoid conflicts between devices.

    c. Buffering and caching: The OS uses buffers and caches to temporarily store data in memory during I/O operations. This allows the system to handle data transfers at varying speeds and minimizes the impact on performance.

  3. Hardware interface management: The OS is responsible for interfacing with the underlying hardware components (e.g., CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage devices) and ensuring that they work together smoothly. This involves:

    a. Processor management: The OS allocates CPU time to various processes and threads, ensuring that all applications receive an appropriate amount of computing resources. It also handles process scheduling, prioritization, and context switching.

    b. Interrupt handling: The OS manages hardware interrupts, which are signals generated by hardware devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, or network card) to notify the OS of an event that requires immediate attention. The OS processes these interrupts and takes appropriate action, such as updating the display or saving data to disk.

    c. Power management: The OS optimizes the use of hardware resources to minimize power consumption, especially in battery-powered devices like laptops and smartphones. This involves techniques like adjusting CPU frequency, turning off unused devices, and managing sleep states.

In summary, the operating system plays a crucial role in managing memory, peripherals, and hardware interfaces. By efficiently allocating resources, ensuring data protection, and providing a stable platform for applications to run, the OS enables a seamless user experience and optimal system performance.

 

A little less comfortable

Process

You should be revising our content for 20 minutes each day. As you learning about resource management  you should be asking yourself how you can apply your understanding (how do I go from theoretical to practical). I would love to hear you ask, "How can we use this information practically?". 

Product

As you are learning you should be taking notes, and developing a cookbook or spellbook. Most system administrators have a book of hints and tips they keep with them. You should have a digital text file or written notebook with helpful reminders to understand the deeper parts of your system. 

Content

At the end of the day, you should be able to apply your understanding of operating systems to issues to solve problems. You must understand how to view and manage complexity from an operating system.

A little more comfortable

Process

You should be revising our content for 30 minutes each day. As you learning about resource management  you should be asking yourself how you can apply your understanding (how do I go from theoretical to practical). I would love to hear you ask, "How can we use this information practically?". 

Product

As you are learning you should be taking notes, and developing a cookbook or spellbook. Most system administrators have a book of hints and tips they keep with them. You should have a digital text file or written notebook with helpful reminders to understand the deeper parts of your system. You should explore different operating systems; looking for tools and similiar views between windows, linux and mac OS. 

Content

At the end of the day, you should be able to apply your understanding of operating systems to issues to solve problems. You must understand how to view and manage complexity from an operating system, and you should be able to interface with parts of an operting system through a python program. 

 

Statement of Inquiry

The big idea for today is Resource management.

The essential questions for this topic are:

How does your computer manage competition for limited resources?

It takes time to explore and really understand a big idea. If you want to
learn more about resource management (which is connected to today's daily note), please click here .

We are learning this because as a designers must understand scientific and technical innovation. Designers use systems, models, methods, and processes to solve problems.



Tags

grade_11 os

 

Reminders & routines:

Please read and follow these reminders:

  1. IF this_class == first_class_of_day:
         read_daily_bulletin()
     
  2. IF today == Friday:
         careers_in_computing()

 

Our learning

This is a beta feature. Please let me know if you have any feedback.

Please click here to reflect on our learning for today's class.