The term 'ready' refers to what state of a process?

The term 'ready' indicates that a process is in a state where it has been assigned but is not currently executing on the CPU. When a process is in the ready state, it means that all the necessary resources to run are available, but it is waiting for the CPU to become free so it can start executing. The scheduler, which is part of the operating system, manages the transition of processes between different states, including moving them from ready to running when the CPU is available.

In the context of process states, 'ready' clearly distinguishes itself from other states. For example, a process that is currently running on the CPU is in the running state, not ready. Similarly, a process that has completed execution is in the terminated state, not ready. Waiting for resources corresponds to another state entirely, often termed 'blocked' or 'waiting,' indicating that the process cannot continue until specific resources become available. Thus, the definition of 'ready' in this context is crucial for understanding process management within an operating system.