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With virtual memory, what data structures map virtual addresses to physical RAM addresses?

Page tables that map virtual pages to physical page frames.

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  1. The hard drive's file table
  2. Page tables ✔
  3. The program's compiler

Why: Memory is split into fixed-size pages. The kernel keeps page tables that map each virtual page a program uses to a physical page frame. The CPU uses them on every access, which also keeps processes apart.

Huh, didn't know that: Virtual memory allows demand paging: only the parts of a program actually needed are kept in RAM.

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Why did the program trust virtual memory? It always had the address it needed.
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References

Answer: Page tables. Memory is split into fixed-size pages. The kernel keeps page tables that map each virtual page a program uses to a physical page frame. The CPU uses them on every access, which also keeps processes apart.

  1. Linux kernel docs: Concepts overview (memory management) docs.kernel.org/admin-guide/mm/concepts.html
    These mappings are described by page tables that allow translation from a virtual address used by programs to the physical memory address.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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