This is the second of six short computer science lessons about the functions of an operating system. In this lesson you will learn about memory management. Memory management is one of the most important functions of an operating system. It is handled by a set of programs that lie at the heart of the operating system called the kernel. The allocation and deallocation of Random Access Memory (RAM) space to running programs and data is graphically illustrated, including the use of swap space to supplement the RAM with virtual memory.