Answer:
Yes, memory management remains an essential function of an operating system, even with increasing memory sizes. Here are some reasons to justify this claim:
Efficient utilization of resources: Efficient memory management ensures that memory resources are utilized efficiently. It prevents unnecessary memory allocation, which can lead to memory fragmentation, memory leaks, and degraded system performance.
Multiprogramming support: In a multiprogramming environment, where multiple processes or applications are running simultaneously, efficient memory management ensures that each process has access to sufficient memory to run optimally. It prevents one process from monopolizing the system's memory and causing other processes to slow down or crash.
Virtual memory support: Virtual memory is a technique that allows a computer to use more memory than it physically has by temporarily transferring data from the RAM to the hard disk. This technique allows applications to run on systems with limited physical memory. Efficient memory management is crucial for managing virtual memory, ensuring that the most frequently accessed data remains in the RAM, while infrequently accessed data is swapped to the hard disk.
Security: Memory management is essential for security reasons. Malicious programs can exploit buffer overflow vulnerabilities, where they write data beyond the allocated memory, potentially leading to system crashes or allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code. Efficient memory management can prevent such attacks by enforcing strict memory allocation rules and boundaries.
In conclusion, memory management remains an important function of an operating system, even with increasing memory sizes. Efficient memory management ensures optimal utilization of resources, supports multiprogramming environments, enables virtual memory support, and enhances system security.