15.1) Running Programs

Most Unix systems have a command called top. This command is used to look at what is running on your system and see information about your own programs that are running. The main functions are:

• to see how long your program has been running
• to assess how much memory a program is using
• to allow you to stop (usually called kill) a program

At the higher level of Unix, you would also use top to allow you to change the amount of processor resource is devoted to your program that is running.