Which tool provides a real-time, text-based view of system resource usage and processes in Linux?

• A. htop
• B. top
• C. iostat 1
• D. vmstat 1

Answer: (B)

Top provides a real-time, text-based view of how the system is using resources and which processes are running. It shows a concise summary at the top with load averages, total tasks, CPU usage, and memory and swap usage, followed by a live list of processes with their resource consumption. The display refreshes continuously, so you can watch changes as they happen, which makes it ideal for quick, ongoing monitoring. It’s also widely available by default on most Linux systems, making it the standard go-to tool for this purpose. While other utilities focus on specific statistics like I/O or virtual memory and may not present an interactive process list in real time, top is designed specifically to give a comprehensive, real-time overview of both system resources and processes in a single view.