Difference between revisions of "Batch operating system"
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'''Batch''' [[operating system]]s were the first OS's, and were common up the 1980s or so; some are still running today. | '''Batch''' [[operating system]]s were the first OS's, and were common up the 1980s or so; some are still running today. | ||
| − | The essence of a batch OS is its lack of interaction with | + | The essence of a batch OS is its lack of interaction with [[user]]s; a [[job]] - a [[program]], along with all its input data - is handed in to the system; when there is an opportunity, it is run; and any resultant output is provided back to the person who sumitted the job. |
| − | The earliest batch OS were not [[ | + | The earliest batch OS's were not [[multi-tasking]]; each job ran to completion, before the next job started. However, this does not make efficient use of a system; while a job is waiting for [[input/output|I/O]] to complete, the rest of the system is idle. This was especially a problem for the very expensive computers which were the norm at that stage. |
| − | So | + | So multi-tasking was added, because having a mix of jobs running at any time is the best way to maximize the use of the system. However, this brought in other issues: e.g. in the earliest stages of this change, all jobs which were running at any time had to be resident in [[main memory]] together. |
With the advent of [[time-sharing]] and [[virtual memory]], all modern OS's tend to have the capability to run jobs in batch mode, and so specialized batch OS's are now fading out. | With the advent of [[time-sharing]] and [[virtual memory]], all modern OS's tend to have the capability to run jobs in batch mode, and so specialized batch OS's are now fading out. | ||
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Revision as of 04:15, 20 June 2018
Batch operating systems were the first OS's, and were common up the 1980s or so; some are still running today.
The essence of a batch OS is its lack of interaction with users; a job - a program, along with all its input data - is handed in to the system; when there is an opportunity, it is run; and any resultant output is provided back to the person who sumitted the job.
The earliest batch OS's were not multi-tasking; each job ran to completion, before the next job started. However, this does not make efficient use of a system; while a job is waiting for I/O to complete, the rest of the system is idle. This was especially a problem for the very expensive computers which were the norm at that stage.
So multi-tasking was added, because having a mix of jobs running at any time is the best way to maximize the use of the system. However, this brought in other issues: e.g. in the earliest stages of this change, all jobs which were running at any time had to be resident in main memory together.
With the advent of time-sharing and virtual memory, all modern OS's tend to have the capability to run jobs in batch mode, and so specialized batch OS's are now fading out.
