What is a task context in computer science?
Q: What is a task context in computer science?
A: A task context is the minimal set of data used by a task that must be saved to allow interruption of the task at a given date and a continuation of the task at the point it has been interrupted and at an arbitrary future date.
Q: In what situations does the concept of context assume significance?
A: The concept of context assumes significance in the case of interruptible tasks, wherein upon being interrupted, the processor saves the context and proceeds to serve the Interrupt service routine.
Q: Why is it important to have a smaller context?
A: The smaller the context, the smaller is the latency.
Q: Where are the task context data located?
A: The task context data are located in: Processor registers, Memory used by the task, and On some operating systems, control registers used by the system to manage the task.
Q: Is the storage memory (files) concerned by the task context during a context switch?
A: No, the storage memory (files) is not concerned by the task context in the case of a context switch, even if this can be stored for some uses (checkpointing).
Q: What happens to the processor when an interruptible task is interrupted?
A: When an interruptible task is interrupted, the processor saves the context and proceeds to serve the Interrupt service routine.
Q: What is the significance of the task context in the performance of the system?
A: The task context is significant in terms of system performance because interruptible tasks can result in context switches, and the smaller the context, the smaller is the latency, which translates to higher performance.
