Segmentation (or not so contiguous allocation)

1. Memory Segments
   • Real memory is a linear array of sequentially numbered addressable words.
   • Most programs do not view memory as a single linear array.

     They instead view it as several disjoint linear arrays each containing logically related portions of their total addressable memory area. These regions are referred to as segments. Typically, programs can be broken up into a code segment and one or more data segments (globals vs. locals).

   • Memory management can take advantage of the structure that programs typically place on the memory they use by explicitly providing processes with an abstraction of memory in which memory is divided into segments. Doing so requires support from the hardware.