Which statement best describes a memory management role of the operating system?

Which statement best describes a memory management role of the operating system?

• A. Ensures that programs do not corrupt each other.
• B. Allocates memory partitions to programs.
• C. Provides user interface.
• D. Manages network connections.

Answer: (B)

Memory management in an operating system is about organizing how RAM is allocated to running programs. The statement that the OS allocates memory partitions to programs best describes this role because, when a program starts, the OS assigns it a block of memory and keeps track of which parts of memory are free or in use. This ensures each program has its own space and that the spaces don’t overlap, which prevents interference and potential data corruption. The OS may use fixed partitions, paging, segmentation, or virtual memory to manage this, and it reclaims memory when programs finish or when they need more, possibly swapping data to disk if memory is tight. The other options relate to different functions: providing a user interface is about how users interact with the system, managing network connections is a networking task, and ensuring programs do not corrupt each other touches on protection, which is part of memory management but not the specific action of allocating memory partitions.

Memory management in an operating system is about organizing how RAM is allocated to running programs. The statement that the OS allocates memory partitions to programs best describes this role because, when a program starts, the OS assigns it a block of memory and keeps track of which parts of memory are free or in use. This ensures each program has its own space and that the spaces don’t overlap, which prevents interference and potential data corruption. The OS may use fixed partitions, paging, segmentation, or virtual memory to manage this, and it reclaims memory when programs finish or when they need more, possibly swapping data to disk if memory is tight. The other options relate to different functions: providing a user interface is about how users interact with the system, managing network connections is a networking task, and ensuring programs do not corrupt each other touches on protection, which is part of memory management but not the specific action of allocating memory partitions.