The Linux Programming Interface

6PROCESSES

In this chapter, we look at the structure of a process, paying particular attention to the layout and contents of a process’s virtual memory. We also examine some of the attributes of a process. In later chapters, we examine further process attributes (for example, process credentials in Chapter 9, and process priorities and scheduling in Chapter 35). In Chapters 24 to 27, we look at how processes are created, how they terminate, and how they can be made to execute new programs.

6.1 Processes and Programs

A process is an instance of an executing program. In this section, we elaborate on this definition and clarify the distinction between a program and a process.

A program is a file containing a range of information that describes how ...