Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The wonderful world of modularity
Modularity has been around for a little bit, but in the computer world it is only as old as computers. Operating systems are a perfect example of using modularity. On the first computers, without an operating system, every program needed the full hardware specification to run correctly and perform standard tasks, and its own drivers for peripheral devices like printers and card-readers. Even then, with the rapid growth of technology, an operating system became necessary.
Why are operating systems necessary? Could you imagine getting on a computer and not knowing where to start? Imagine going to work and not having a desk to work on. An OS serves as an interface between the hardware and the application you are using. There is something called a "kernel" in the OS. A kernel serves as a sort of bridge between data processing and applications. The kernel manages the system's resources, such as the communication between software and hardware components. In other words, the kernel is the biggest component of all operating systems.
This is not the only thing that an operating system handles. It takes care of things such as managing system memory, interrupts (a signal indicating the need for attention or an event in a software command), dual mode operation, and many other things.
This might be a bit much for those of you who only know how to turn a computer on, but the important thing is that it does all of this work for us so we don't have to. My favorite operating system? You had to ask. Go here and you'll see.
So, without modularity, our computers are useless. Although this post barely shows how an operating system works, I hope I have taught you a little bit more about how operating systems work.
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I agree with your blog to the fullest, I like the way you explained operating systems. Without the guides that we have today we wouldn't get far in technology. It brings and broaden our minds in a certain form.
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