Give an example of computing circumstances that would favor first-fit allocation over best-fit. Explain your answer.

Answer

First-fit allocation would be favored over best-fit allocation when there are many small memory requests and there is a lot of fragmentation.

Q: What is first-fit allocation? A: First-fit allocation is a memory allocation algorithm that allocates the first available memory block that is large enough to hold the requested data.
Q: What is best-fit allocation? A: Best-fit allocation is a memory allocation algorithm that allocates the smallest available memory block that is large enough to hold the requested data.
Q: When would first-fit allocation be favored over best-fit allocation? A: First-fit allocation would be favored over best-fit allocation when there are many small memory requests and there is a lot of fragmentation, meaning that there are many small holes in the memory with no single large hole that is big enough to satisfy a request. In such cases, best-fit allocation would need to search through many small holes to find a fit, which would be inefficient. In contrast, first-fit allocation can allocate the first available hole that is big enough, reducing the amount of time required to search for a hole.