ENVS 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Application Programming Interface, Network Management, Memory Management
13 May 2018
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ENVS 1500 Lecture 24 Notes – Services and facilities section
Introduction
• Most of the operating system is written in high-level language, which can be ported
easily to a new machine by recompiling the high level code.
• The portion of the operating system that must be built for the individual machine is
written in a mixture of high-level language and assembly language.
• Languages such as C++ and Java are ideal system languages
• They provide facilities that make it possible to interact with the hardware with very little
need for assembly language.
• In fact, the language C was originally designed specifically for this purpose.
• The portability of Linux, and other modern operating systems, stems directly from this
capability.
• While it is true that a single operating system can be ported to operate with different
hardware
• It is also true that a particular hardware platform can support different operating
systems.
• Thus, the user or system designer can select an operating system that provides the
desired facilities for the particular use of the system.
• Although x86-based personal computers have traditionally been provided with some
version of Windows, there are other operating system options available that a user
could select.
• An unsophisticated user on a stand-alone system might run Windows XP or Vista for its
familiarity and ease of use
• A more sophisticated user with particular needs might prefer Apple MacIntosh OS X for
its excellent tools and applications or Linux for its additional power.
• Particularly, if the machine is supporting multiple users, an X Windows-based Linux or
UNIX operating system might be more appropriate.
• An overview of the various services and components that make up an operating system
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