Round Robin scheduling is one of the most popular scheduling algorithms used in modern computer systems. It is a preemptive scheduling algorithm in which the operating system assigns a fixed time slice to each process in a circular order, ensuring that each process gets an equal share of the CPU time. This ensures that no process is starved of CPU resources while waiting for other tasks to complete. In this article, we will explore the benefits and limitations of Round Robin scheduling in computer systems.

Benefits of Round Robin Scheduling

1. Fairness: Round Robin scheduling is known for its fairness as it ensures that every process gets a fair share of the CPU time, regardless of its priority. This makes the scheduling algorithm ideal for multi-user systems where several users are competing for system resources.

2. Good response time: As Round Robin scheduling assigns equal time slices to each process, even low-priority processes get a chance to execute. This leads to good response time and ensures that user input is processed quickly.

3. Prevents starvation: Round Robin scheduling prevents the problem of starvation, which occurs when a low-priority task is waiting for a high-priority task to complete. By assigning a fixed time slice to each process, Round Robin scheduling ensures that every task gets a chance to execute.

4. Easy to implement: Compared to other scheduling algorithms, Round Robin scheduling is relatively easy to implement as it only requires a simple data structure to maintain process states.

Limitations of Round Robin Scheduling

1. Inefficiency: Round Robin scheduling can be inefficient in some cases. For example, in a system where there are mostly short processes, the overhead of switching between processes can become significant, leading to a decrease in system performance.

2. Poor performance for long processes: Round Robin scheduling may not be ideal for handling long processes that require a lot of CPU time. As each process is assigned a fixed time slice, a long process may have to wait for several rounds before completing its execution.

3. Overhead of context switching: Round Robin scheduling involves a lot of context switching, which can be time-consuming and lead to system overhead. This can be especially problematic in systems with a large number of processes.

4. Priority inversion: In some cases, Round Robin scheduling can cause priority inversion, which occurs when a high-priority process is forced to wait for a low-priority process to complete. This can lead to low-priority tasks hogging CPU resources for longer durations.

Conclusion

Round Robin scheduling has both benefits and limitations. Its fairness and prevention of starvation make it ideal for multi-user systems. However, the overhead of context switching and possible priority inversion make it less ideal for systems with long processes or a large number of processes. In conclusion, while Round Robin scheduling is a popular scheduling algorithm, it is not suitable for every scenario, and alternative scheduling algorithms should be considered based on specific system requirements.