Contiguous & Non-Contiguous Storage Allocation in Memory Management

Contiguous & Non-Contiguous Storage Allocation in Memory Management:

Definition and Explanation:

The earliest computing system required contiguous storage allocation in which each program occupied a single contiguous memory block. In these systems, the technique of multiprogramming was not possible.

In non-contiguous storage allocation, a program is divided into several blocks that may be placed in different parts of main memory. It is more difficult for an operating system to control non-contiguous storage allocation. The benefit is that if main memory has many small holes available instead of a single large hole, then operating system can often load and execute a program that would otherwise need to wait.