Overview
This chapter is an introduction to UNIX processes and process management. All program execution and tasks performed on a UNIX system are accomplished with processes that are managed by the operating system kernel. You will learn how to determine which processes are currently running and interpret the process information displayed with the ps (process status) command. You will be able to identify Parent and Child processes and use Process Identifiers to terminate unwanted or unresponsive processes. An understanding of processes is critical to understanding the inner workings of the UNIX operating system. The concepts of virtual memory and physical memory, swap files, and paging are also introduced.