6.3.1 Paging, Segmentation

(Difficulty Note: These are technical methods the OS uses. Focus on the idea of breaking things up.)

When the OS manages memory, it often breaks up programs and memory into smaller pieces:

Paging: Imagine RAM is divided into small, fixed-size blocks called "frames." When a program needs to run, the OS breaks the program into equally small pieces called "pages." These pages can then be loaded into any available frames in RAM. This helps the OS use memory efficiently and avoids large empty spaces.
Segmentation: Instead of fixed-size pages, segmentation breaks a program into logical pieces called "segments." These segments might be different sizes, like one segment for a program's code, another for its data, and another for its settings. This is more like how a human would think about parts of a program.

Both paging and segmentation are ways the OS organizes memory to make sure programs can run even if they need a lot of space, and to keep different programs' data separate.

Bibliography:

Paging in Operating System. (n.d.). GeeksforGeeks. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/paging-in-operating-system/
Segmentation in Operating System. (n.d.). TutorialsPoint. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://www.tutorialspoint.com/segmentation-in-operating-system