Based on the question papers provided in the file, here are the most commonly
asked and important topics:
1. Real-Time Operating System: Definition, applications, and types (hard
and soft).
2. Operating System Services: Important services like user interface,
program execution, I/O operations, file system manipulation,
communication, and error detection.
3. Process Management: Process state diagram, components of OS, types
of schedulers, and scheduling criteria.
4. CPU Scheduling Algorithms: Round-robin, First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS),
Shortest Job First (SJF), with examples and calculations.
5. Memory Management: Virtual memory, partitioning types (fixed and
variable), paging, and segmentation.
6. File Management: File attributes, operations, and allocation methods
(contiguous, linked, indexed).
7. Inter-Process Communication (IPC): Shared memory and message-
passing models.
8. Deadlock: Definition, necessary conditions for deadlock, and methods
for prevention.
9. Commands in UNIX/Linux: Examples of ps, kill, sleep, mkdir, and ls
commands.
10.Page Replacement Algorithms: Least Recently Used (LRU), calculations
of page faults.
11.System Calls: Purpose and types of system calls, e.g., process control, file
management.
12.Multithreading Models: Explanation of many-to-one, one-to-one, and
many-to-many models.
These topics frequently appear in questions across different years and are
essential for thorough understanding of operating system fundamentals.
Based on a trend analysis of the previous years' question papers, the following
questions have high chances of reappearing, as they cover key areas of the syllabus
and frequently asked concepts. Here’s a focused list to prepare for the upcoming
exams:
1. Operating System Basics
• Define a real-time operating system and list its applications.
• Differentiate between multitasking and multi-programming operating systems.
• Describe the types of operating systems, including batch, real-time, and time-
sharing OS.
2. Operating System Services
• List and explain any four key services provided by an operating system
(frequent focus on user interface, program execution, I/O operations, file
management).
3. Process Management
• Draw and explain the process state diagram.
• Define Process Control Block (PCB) and list the information stored in it.
• Explain CPU scheduling criteria and commonly used scheduling algorithms
(FCFS, SJF, Round Robin) with examples.
• Describe the differences between long-term, short-term, and medium-term
schedulers.
4. Memory Management
• Define virtual memory and explain its significance.
• Compare paging and segmentation, explaining their differences.
• Describe fixed and variable partitioning in memory management.
• Explain the Least Recently Used (LRU) page replacement algorithm with a
sample calculation of page faults.
5. File Management
• List and describe file attributes and file operations (create, read, write, delete,
etc.).
• Describe contiguous, linked, and indexed file allocation methods, with a focus
on contiguous allocation.
6. Inter-Process Communication (IPC)
• Explain the shared memory model of IPC with a diagram.
• Describe message passing as an IPC mechanism and its advantages.
7. Deadlock
• Define deadlock and discuss the necessary conditions for its occurrence.
• Explain strategies for deadlock prevention by ensuring one or more conditions
do not hold.
8. Commands and Syntax (Linux/UNIX)
• Write the syntax for commonly used commands (ps, kill, sleep, mkdir, ls).
• Describe options for the ps command and what information it provides.
9. System Calls
• Define the purpose of system calls and give examples of types of system calls
(process control, file management, device management).
10. Scheduling and Algorithms
• Explain the Round Robin scheduling algorithm with a Gantt chart and calculate
the average waiting time.
• Describe the Shortest Job First (SJF) algorithm (both preemptive and non-
preemptive) with an example.
11. Multithreading Models
• Describe different multithreading models (many-to-one, one-to-one, many-to-
many) with examples of where each is used.
High Probability Short Answer Questions:
1. Define a real-time operating system.
2. List any four services provided by an operating system.
3. Draw a labeled process state diagram.
4. Define CPU burst and I/O burst.
5. Explain two conditions necessary for deadlock.
6. Differentiate between paging and segmentation.
These questions represent frequently tested concepts and are essential to
understand for comprehensive exam preparation.
