Can you explain the concept of virtual memory and how it works in operating systems?

Virtual Memory in Operating Systems: Explanation for Computer Engineers

Virtual memory is a memory management technique used by operating systems to give each process the illusion of having its own private memory space. It allows the system to efficiently use physical memory (RAM) by temporarily transferring data to disk storage when it is not actively being used.

How does it work? When a computer's physical memory is full, the operating system swaps out data from inactive processes to a reserved space on the hard drive called the swap file. This frees up physical memory for active processes and allows the system to continue running smoothly.

Virtual memory also enables programs to run larger than the available physical memory by storing parts of the program in the swap file and loading them back into physical memory as needed.

Overall, virtual memory plays a crucial role in optimizing system performance and ensuring that multiple processes can run concurrently without running out of memory.