The kernel is the core of the operating system: it is a software layer that provides secure and controlled access to the machine's hardware (by creating a hardware abstraction layer that provides a uniform interface to the underlying hardware so to simplify developers' job in writing applications) to all the running processes as well as scheduling processes and executing them in a multitasking environment.
Thanks to Luigi Bruno for originally authoring this content.
Added a link in the "Books" section.
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