Round Robin Scheduling

What Does Round Robin Scheduling Mean?

Round robin scheduling (RRS) is a job-scheduling algorithm that is considered to be very fair, as it uses time slices that are assigned to each process in the queue or line. Each process is then allowed to use the CPU for a given amount of time, and if it does not finish within the allotted time, it is preempted and then moved at the back of the line so that the next process in line is able to use the CPU for the same amount of time.

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Techopedia Explains Round Robin Scheduling

Round robin scheduling is an algorithm mainly used by operating systems and applications that serve multiple clients that request to use resources. It handles all requests in a circular first-in-first-out (FIFO) order and eschews priority so that all processes/applications may be able to use the same resources in the same amount of time and also have the same amount of waiting time each cycle; hence it is also considered as cyclic executive.

It is one of the oldest, simplest, fairest and most widely used scheduling algorithms of all time, partly because it is very easy to implement as there are no complicated timings or priorities to consider, only a FIFO system and a fixed time constraint for each usage of the resource. This also solves the problem of starvation, a problem in which a process is not able to use resources for a long time because it always gets preempted by other processes thought to be more important.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…