Operating Systems

Understand the operating system boot process: BIOS/UEFI, bootloader, kernel initialization.

Understand CPU cache hierarchy: L1, L2, L3 caches and cache coherence.

Compare containers and VMs: namespaces, cgroups, and virtualization technologies. Understand isolation, resource management, and when to use each.

Understand how the OS switches between processes: saving and restoring CPU state, PCB (Process Control Block), and performance implications.

Understand deadlock conditions (mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption, circular wait) and prevention strategies.

Master disk scheduling algorithms: SCAN, C-SCAN, FCFS, SSTF for optimizing disk I/O.

Learn DMA: allows devices to access memory directly without CPU intervention.

Compare file systems: EXT4 (Linux), NTFS (Windows), FAT32 and their characteristics, features, and use cases.

Learn inodes: data structures that store file metadata in Unix/Linux file systems.

Understand interrupts (hardware events) and traps (software exceptions) in operating systems.

Learn I/O management: device drivers, I/O scheduling, and interrupt handling.

Learn CPU privilege levels: kernel mode (privileged) vs user mode (restricted) for security.

Learn essential Linux commands: file operations, process management, networking, and system info.

Learn how operating systems manage memory: allocation, deallocation, protection, virtual memory, and memory hierarchy.

Understand the networking stack in OS: socket APIs, TCP/IP implementation, and network layers.

Compare monolithic and microkernel operating system architectures and their trade-offs.

Learn page faults and replacement algorithms: LRU, FIFO, Optimal for virtual memory management and efficient page swapping.

Master memory management techniques: paging (fixed-size) and segmentation (variable-size), their advantages, disadvantages, and when to use each.

Learn Process Control Block structure that stores process state and context information for process management and context switching.

Understand the fundamental differences between processes and threads: isolation, memory sharing, context switching, and when to use each.

Master CPU scheduling algorithms: Round Robin (RR), First Come First Served (FCFS), Shortest Job First (SJF), and Priority scheduling. Understand their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages.

Compare inter-process communication: shared memory (fast) vs message passing (safe).

Understand the difference between shell (user interface) and kernel (core OS).

Learn Unix signals: software interrupts for inter-process communication and control.

Learn synchronization primitives: mutexes and semaphores for thread synchronization, preventing race conditions, and coordinating access to shared resources.

Understand system calls: interface between user programs and the operating system kernel.

Compare thread models: 1:1 (kernel threads), N:1 (user threads), M:N (hybrid).

Understand virtual memory: how operating systems provide larger address space than physical memory using paging, swapping, and address translation.