ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Scheduling (computing)

Scheduling in computing is like how a teacher schedules classes for students. Just like how a teacher sets the time for each class and makes sure that no two classes overlap, a computer program manages the time and resources for multiple tasks in the computer system.

Think of it as if you have a to-do list of things you need to do, and you want to finish them all. But some items may be more important or urgent than others. So, you need to figure out the best order to do them in, so you can accomplish your goals in the most efficient way.

In a similar way, a computer program schedules different processes or tasks that need to be done on the computer, based on their priority and available resources. For example, if you are playing a video game and listening to music at the same time, the computer scheduler will make sure that both programs are able to run smoothly without interrupting each other.

The scheduler also ensures that the CPU (central processing unit) is utilized efficiently and that each process gets a fair share of the processor time. This helps to prevent any one process from hogging all the resources and causing the entire system to slow down or crash.

Overall, scheduling in computing is all about organizing and managing the different tasks and processes that need to be done on a computer, so that everything runs smoothly and efficiently.