What’s a zero page?

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Page zero is the portion of a computer’s memory at the beginning of the address space. The zero refers to the memory addresses contained in this area, since it is at the very beginning that the addresses all start with zero. In older computers, this space was reserved for primary functions and critical information. As time went on, fewer systems relied on page zero, and its special treatment became less common. In newer computers, this memory address is often kept clear to monitor programming memory usage and look for errors.

Memory usage of older computer systems is in many ways the same as newer models. When programs run, will be running soon, or have recently finished running, they are moved from memory to active memory. Active memory runs much faster and allows the program to run with less waiting time. The computer keeps track of all this memory by assigning addresses to programs, essentially the same as the address of a house.

For the most part, when a computer is shut down, active memory is lost. As a result, when a computer turns on for the first time, its memory should be completely empty. This means that the very first bits of information loaded into the system would go to the beginning of the memory lists, or on page zero. To make sure everything worked as it should, some functions were built in to operate in this area of ​​memory and other programs were kept out.

Over time, the speed of the computer has increased dramatically. While memory speed has increased along with everything else, processor speed has slowly caught up and surpassed it in regards to several functions. This change made page zero significantly less important, and many systems stopped using it as a result. It has become easier to let the system make its own decisions about where information is kept, rather than attempting to control it at such a minor level.

Modern computers often forego page zero altogether. Some processors will still allocate a small amount of memory at the beginning of the address space, which they intentionally keep empty. When a program messes up and tries to access memory that doesn’t exist, the malformed memory pointer will simply point to the first available address. By monitoring the empty section for these pointers, you can locate malfunctioning programs. In many ways, this is the opposite of the original zero page; instead of being crammed with essential programs, it’s empty and waiting for malfunctions.

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