ABSTRACT
STARTING A PROCESS To run a program, the program must be an executable-that is, the program must be available in the computer’s machine language. As most programs are written in a high level language (e.g., Java, C++), the programmer must translate the program from the high level language version into machine language. is is typically accomplished by using a program called a compiler. e compiler provides an executable version of the program as
its output. You must compile the program for each platform that the program is intended to run on (e.g., a separate compilation is needed for a Macintosh, a Windows machine, a Linux machine, a mainframe).*
e rst step in starting any process is to have the executable version of the program available. e executable program is stored somewhere in the le system (usually on hard disk, but it is also possible to run programs that are stored on optical disk, ash drive, etc.). When the user wishes to run a program, the OS must locate the executable program. In most OSs, the user indicates that a program should run through one of several possible approaches.
