What is the kernel?

    The kernel is the central module of an operating system (OS), which connects the system hardware to the application software(Beal, V., n.d., para. 1). According to (RedHat, n.d., para. 2) “The kernel is so named because—like a seed inside a hard shell—it exists within the OS and controls all the major functions of the hardware, whether it’s a phone, laptop, server, or any other kind of computer”. The better you understand the kernel, the better you code.

Graphical representaton of Linux Kernel working as a bridge between hardware and user processes.

(RedHat, n.d., para. 6)  states:

You can think of a Linux machine as having 3 layers:

1. The hardware: The physical machine—the bottom or base of the system, made up of memory (RAM) and the processor or central processing unit (CPU), as well as input/output (I/O) devices such as storage, networking, and graphics. The CPU performs computations and reads from, and writes to, memory.

2. The Linux kernel: The core of the OS. (See? It’s right in the middle.) It’s software residing in memory that tells the CPU what to do.

3. User processes: These are the running programs that the kernel manages. User processes are what collectively make up user space. User processes are also known as just processes. The kernel also allows these processes and servers to communicate with each other (known as inter-process communication, or IPC).

Every operating system has a kernel(Beal, V., n.d., para. 2). For example the Linux kernel is used in numerous operating systems including Ubuntu, FreeBSD, Android and others (Beal, V., n.d., para. 2).

Bibliography:

Beal, V. (n.d.). Kernel. Retrieved August 30, 2020, from

https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/K/kernel.html

RedHat (n.d.). What is the Linux kernel?. Retrieved August 30, 2020, from

https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/linux/what-is-the-linux-kernel