Why is maximum CPU utilization a major objective while constructing any scheduling algorithm?

Question

I just wanted to ask that what is the reason behind making the maximum utilization of the processor ,that is ,whenever at any instant of time ,the scheduler makes sure that the processor must not remain idle and it must always be in the process of executing some process,so does that not require more power to be consumed by the processor.

So basically what is the reason behind always making the processor run,what would be the drawback if the processor remains idle,will that not save the power consumed by the processor.

Answer 1

It's a matter of priorities. I don't mean thread or process priorities. I mean - what's more important? Getting work done, or saving power?

If getting work done is more important - and btw, in what you described, that is apparently the case - then if there's work to do, you want the processor doing that work. An idle processor is a wasted processor, just like "free" RAM is wated RAM.

Now if saving power is more important than getting work done, then you use a scheduling algorithm that takes that into account.

Answer 2

Maximum CPU utilization is not per se a major objective of scheduling algorithms. It is just a side effect of an obvious scheduling algorithm objective which is to keep the runnable processes waiting queue as short as possible.