Chapter 11
Processes and Signals
Processes and signals form a fundamental part of the Linux operating environment. They control almost all activities performed by Linux and all other UNIX-like computer systems. An understanding of how Linux and UNIX manage processes will hold any systems programmer, applications programmer, or system administrator in good stead.
In this chapter, you learn how processes are handled in the Linux environment and how to find out exactly what the computer is doing at any given time. You also see how to start and stop other processes from within your own programs, how to make processes send and receive messages, and how to avoid zombies. In particular, you learn about
- Process structure, type, and scheduling
- Starting new processes in different ways
- Parent, child, and zombie processes
- What signals are and how to use them
What Is a Process?
The UNIX standards, specifically IEEE Std 1003.1, 2004 Edition, defines a process as “an address space with one or more threads executing within that address space, and the required system resources for those threads.” We look at threads in Chapter 12. For now, we will regard a process as just a program that is running.
A multitasking operating system such as Linux lets many programs run at once. Each instance of a running program constitutes a process. This is especially evident with a windowing system such as the X Window System (often simply called X). Like Windows, X provides a graphical user interface that allows ...
