Final answer:
Round robin is a scheduling algorithm used in general purpose time sharing systems or transaction processing systems to allocate CPU time fairly among processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Round robin is a scheduling algorithm that is used in general purpose time sharing systems or transaction processing systems.
It is designed to allocate CPU time fairly among all processes by giving each process a fixed time slice or quantum. Once a process completes its time slice, it goes to the end of the queue and the next process in line is given a turn.
For example, let's say we have three processes A, B, and C, and each is given a quantum of 10 milliseconds. The scheduler will allow process A to run for 10 milliseconds, then process B for the same amount of time, and finally process C.
Once all processes have had a turn, the scheduler goes back to the beginning, giving process A another 10 milliseconds. This continues until all processes have completed their tasks.
Round robin is effective in these types of systems because it ensures that no process monopolizes the CPU and that all processes get a fair share of execution time.
It prevents a single process from hogging resources and helps in achieving better system performance and responsiveness.