Process states (new, ready, running, waiting, terminated) in Operating Systems - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding the 'Ready' state in process management

Which of the following best describes the Ready state of a process in an operating system?

A The process is prepared to run and waiting for CPU allocation.

B The process has finished execution and is terminated.

C The process is waiting for an I/O operation to complete.

D The process is currently executing instructions on the CPU.

💡 Hint

Think about when a process is ready but not yet running.

The Ready state means the process is loaded in memory and waiting for the CPU to execute it. It is not running yet but is prepared to run.

📋 Factual

intermediate

Identifying the 'Waiting' state cause

What causes a process to enter the Waiting state?

A The process is waiting for an event like I/O completion or a signal.

B The process is waiting for CPU time to start running.

C The process has completed execution and is cleaning up resources.

D The process is being created and initialized.

💡 Hint

Consider what happens when a process cannot continue until something external finishes.

The Waiting state occurs when a process cannot proceed until an external event, such as I/O completion, happens.

🔍 Analysis

advanced

Sequence of process states during execution

Consider a process that is created, runs, waits for I/O, then finishes. Which sequence of states correctly represents this process lifecycle?

A New → Waiting → Ready → Running → Terminated

B New → Ready → Running → Waiting → Ready → Running → Terminated

C New → Running → Ready → Waiting → Running → Terminated

D New → Ready → Waiting → Running → Terminated

💡 Hint

Think about the order a process moves through states when it pauses for I/O and resumes.

The process starts New, moves to Ready waiting for CPU, then Running. When it needs I/O, it goes to Waiting. After I/O, it returns to Ready, then Running again, and finally Terminated.

❓ Comparison

advanced

Difference between 'New' and 'Terminated' states

Which statement correctly compares the New and Terminated states of a process?

A New means the process is waiting for I/O; Terminated means it is running.

B New means the process is finished; Terminated means it is just created.

C Both New and Terminated mean the process is waiting for CPU time.

D New means the process is being created; Terminated means the process has finished execution.

💡 Hint

Think about the start and end points of a process lifecycle.

The New state is when a process is being created and initialized. The Terminated state means the process has completed execution and is cleaned up.

❓ Reasoning

expert

Why a process cannot move directly from 'Waiting' to 'Running'

Why does a process typically not move directly from the Waiting state to the Running state?

A Because the process moves directly from New to Running, skipping Waiting.

B Because the process must first be terminated before running again.

C Because the process must return to the Ready state to wait for CPU scheduling.

D Because the process is deleted after waiting and cannot run again.

💡 Hint

Consider how the CPU scheduler decides which process runs next.

After waiting for an event, a process moves to the Ready state to wait for CPU allocation. It cannot run immediately because the CPU may be busy with other processes.