Process States

What this operating systems process-state question tests

This is a foundational question on process lifecycle management in operating systems. It probes whether you understand the standard states that a process moves through during its lifetime, and can distinguish them from non-standard or colloquial terms that candidates might confuse with formal process states.

Process states form the backbone of CPU scheduling and resource management. Interviewers ask this kind of question to verify that you have internalized the formal model—the states defined by the OS kernel itself—rather than informal descriptions of what a process is "doing." Getting this right reflects careful study of how operating systems actually implement process management.

• The running, ready, and blocked states
• State transitions and scheduling
• Zombie and orphaned processes
• How the kernel tracks process state