Operating Systems

Introduction to Operating systems

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e

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s

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y

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Overview

Operating Systems session

provides knowledge and
understanding of the operating
system components and their
role in software application
programming.

Objective
Through this session, you will understand the
operating system components and concepts that a
developer needs to know to work with it. The key
concepts discussed are :

Introduction to OS
Functions of OS
Operating System Utilities
Overview of UNIX, Windows 7
and z/OS and comparison

Introduction to Operating systems

Operating System is a System Software that controls
the operation of a computer such as
- Managing hardware and software components
- Providing Interface between Applications (Apps) and
Hardware
The modern OS used in mobile and desktop computers are given
below.

Windows
i OS

MAC

LINUX

Windows Phone8

Why should a software developer need to understand

about anUNIX
OS?
ANDROID
IBM z/OS
IBM OS400

Introduction to Operating Systems

The common functionalities of OS will be explained
through this session, with the help of the below
Operating systems, which are predominantly used to
host critical business applications:

UNIX

Windows 7

z/OS
Identify the Desktop and Mobile OS in the earlier given
examples

Layers of an OS
A programmer interacts with the Operating System and
its Utilities.
END USER
PROGRAMMER
OS DESIGNER
APPS
UTILITIES
OPERATING SYSTEM
COMPUTER HARDWARE

Structure of an OS
The three main components in the Structure of an
OS are:
Kernel
It is the central core of the Operating System (OS), providing
CPU Scheduling, Process management, Memory
management
and communication between hardware and software
components.

Shell
It is a program, which interprets the command you type. On
validating the command you type, it directs the kernel to
carry out the request or throw an invalid error message

Structure of an OS
Command Processor
It is an interface between the user and OS classified as
CLI - Command Line Interpreter is a standard set of
commands used for OS operations.
GUI - Graphical user Interface is an environment that
works with graphical objects. The user selects a picture
or icons available to perform a task, instead of keying
in the commands

Types of Operating Systems

The major types of OS used in critical business
environments are:
Single User, Multitasking OS
It allows a single user to operate on several programs at the
same time
Examples are Windows, Mac OS

Multiuser OS
It allows multiple users to share computers resources at the
same time
Examples are UNIX, z/OS, Windows XP
The other types of OS include

10

RTOS (Real Time OS) - used in industrial systems,

Distributed
in MS-DOS
library databases,
What
type ofOS
OSused
does
belong to?
Interactive
processing
-used
in ATMs
and
Provide
example
devices
using
embedded
OS
Batch processing - used in stock and billing systems

Functions of an OS
Having discussed about the layers, structure and types
of an OS, lets move on to the functions of an operating
system, through which the Users and programmers
are benefited
Introduction to OS
Layers of OS
Structure of OS
Types of OS
Functions of an OS
Operating System Utilities
Overview of UNIX, Windows 7 and z/OS and
comparison
11

Functions of an OS
What happens when a program is executed in an
application?

12

OS creates a process when an instance of a program is

loaded into the main memory
OS schedules this process among others, based on the
priorities
OS makes the required input and output devices
available during this process
OS makes the required files available during this
process
OS facilitates communication between these processes
OS facilitates to handle unexpected errors during the
execution of this process
OS ensures security by validating the users while this
process is invoked
OS facilitates this process, to communicate through

Functions of an OS
The key function of an OS is to provide an environment
where the users can conveniently run their programs.
Process Management
Manage user and system processes through Process control
Blocks (PCB)
Process synchronization mechanism
Inter process communication mechanism
Deadlock handling mechanism

Memory Management
Allocate and deallocate memory space as needed
Keeps track of memory usage
Decides which process to load into memory

File Management
Supports file manipulations like creation, deletion
Mapping of files to secondary storage
Back up of files
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Functions of an OS
I/O System Management
Manage I/O devices to be accessed by users in uniform, secure
manner
Optimize the performance of the I/O system

Networking
Manage communication among processors through routing,
security and contention

Protection
Controls the access of programs, processes, or users to the
resources defined

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Lend a Hand

Find out the information available in a

Process Control Block (PCB)
What is dynamic loading and dynamic
linking? When is each of these chosen?

15

Operating System Utilities

Utilities of an OS are computer programs that work with
system resources such as memory and basic data flow. Few
of the OS Utilities which a Programmer uses are listed
below.
OS UTILITIES

Usage by a Programmer

Editors

HTML editor, Vi editor, ISPF

editor

I/O Device Access

USB Driver, Printer driver

Controlled File Access

File Attributes

Controlled System Access

Firewalls and System

privileges

Error Handling

Error messages on invalid

inputs

Performance monitors
Monitor system and
List few other OS Utility programs ensuring Secure
application performance
System access
How does an utility differ from application?
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Lend a Hand
Logon to the Operating Systems and try few of the basic
utilities
Logon to UNIX
Note: Follow the instructions provided in the Unix Logon
Instructions document

The Screen you are viewing is the Unix Shell

Try these commands to list, create the files and directories
% ls , % ls a , % mkdir <directory name>, % cd
<directory name>
Try these commands to know about the home directories
cd, cd . ., pwd
Try creating a Read-Only word document in Windows 7 OS
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Comparison of Operating Systems

Feature

UNIX

Kernel

Monolithic Kernel Hybrid Kernel

called as Microsoft
NT Kernel

Monolithic Kernel

Type

Multi-user, Multitasking

Single User, Multitasking

Multi-user, Multitasking

Default User
Interface

CLI, Graphical(X)

Graphical
(Windows Shell)

ISPF

User Login

Users log in and

execute shell
sessions in the
shell
environment.
rlogin or telnet
commands are
also used to
connect. Each
user can have
many login
sessions open at

Users log in to
systems using
unique user ID.
Multiple users can
switch between
accounts in a
single
environment.

Users log on to
the system
through TSO and
its panel-driven
interface, ISPF. A
user ID is limited
to having only
one TSO logon
session active at
a time.

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WINDOWS 7

z/OS

Questions

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Check Your Understanding

What are the three main
components in the Structure
of an OS?
What type of OS does UNIX
belong to?
Explain the role of an OS in
program execution
What are the utility commands
used in listing files in UNIX
20

OS?

Keywords

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Summary
An operating system (OS) is a
system software that managers
hardware and software resources
of a computer and serves as an
interface between hardware and
applications.
The structure of an OS contains
Kernel, Shell and Command
Processor
The types of OS used in
application development are
Single user-multitasking and
multiuser OS
The major functions of an OS are
22 Process, Memory, I/O and File

References
http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~
csonline/OS/Lessons/Introduction/index.html
http://physinfo.ulb.ac.be/cit_courseware/opsys/os01.ht
m
http://homepage.smc.edu/morgan_david/cs40/slides/ch
02-software-overview.pdf
http://
easy2teach.net/operating-system/structure-of-operati
ng-system
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~palsetia/cit595s08/Lectures
08/os1.pdf

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Operating System

You have successfully completed Introduction to Operating systems

Change Log

25

Version
Number

Changes made

V1.0

Initial Version

V1.1

Slide No.

Changed By

Effective
Date

Changes
Effected