Process lifecycle

Processes are running instances of programs. They have IDs, ownership, and resource usage.

Key states

• Running: Currently executing on CPU.
• Sleeping: Waiting for I/O or timing.
• Stopped: Paused by signals.
• Zombie: Exited but not reaped by parent.

Practical workflow

• Inspect with ps and top.
• Use kill for signals, not just termination.
• Log long-running jobs with explicit PID files.