Description: The ‘Parent Process’ is a fundamental concept in process management within operating systems. It refers to a process that has the ability to create one or more child processes. This process creation mechanism is essential for executing concurrent tasks and organizing program execution. In technical terms, when a parent process starts, it can invoke a system call, such as ‘fork()’, which generates a duplicate of the original process, thus creating a child process. This child process can execute different tasks or even replicate the behavior of the parent process. The relationship between parent and child processes is hierarchical, where the parent process can control and manage its children, allowing for communication and synchronization between them. Additionally, the parent process is responsible for collecting information about the state of its child processes, known as ‘waiting’ or ‘wait’. This hierarchical structure is crucial for the stability and efficiency of the operating system, as it allows for better resource management and a more orderly execution of tasks. In summary, the parent process is a key component in process architecture, facilitating the creation and management of child processes in a multitasking execution environment.
