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Course 290 · Digital course 53

Run and Control Computer Processes

Build a local supervisor for two harmless supplied Python scripts, with process IDs, captured output, return-code classification, timeout cleanup and a resource-limit decision record. Work from supplied original examples and check changed cases.

Before you start

Complete or review Use the Command Line for File and Text Work before starting.

Use the Command Line for File and Text Work See everything you’ll need

Free download · Original practice data · No external account required. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

A local supervisor for two harmless supplied Python scripts, with process IDs, captured output, return-code classification, timeout cleanup and a resource-limit decision record.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesSupplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ and adults ready for the named prerequisite; no employment or private records required.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Complete or review Use the Command Line for File and Text Work before starting.
  • Use a local text editor and a free Python 3.10+ interpreter for Python files, or a current browser for HTML files. Supplied code uses no paid services or external packages.
  • Create a fresh practice folder and use only the supplied fictional inputs. A paper trace is labeled a trace, not an executed test.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

A local supervisor for two harmless supplied Python scripts, with process IDs, captured output, return-code classification, timeout cleanup and a resource-limit decision record.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • Produce an owned-child lifecycle record with actual PID and explicit control scope.
  • Retain an explicit bounded command/context specification and pre-launch mode rejection.
  • Create an actual stdout/stderr/return-code classification matrix for successful and failed modes.
  • Demonstrate bounded timeout cleanup and retain accurate interrupted-task classification.
  • Document elapsed-time evidence and a clear unimplemented-resource-controls boundary.
  • Deliver the owned supervisor with dynamic observations, tested lifecycle branches, and explicit resource/platform limits.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • The implementation or declared simulation follows the supplied contract and retains inspectable original inputs.
  • Normal, boundary and rejected cases are recorded with expected versus observed results.
  • The changed case has a correct explanation and does not rely on hidden state.
  • The project includes source, outputs, instructions and honest tool, privacy and verification limits.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

State the contract

Name inputs, permitted states and observable outputs before editing the implementation.

02

Preserve the evidence

Keep the actual source, changed input and expected/observed record so someone can repeat the work.

03

Test the boundary

Check a rejection or changed case and distinguish local practice from real service or native-tool behavior.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

process
A running instance of a program.
PID
The system-assigned identifier of a process instance.
exit status
The code reporting a process outcome.
standard streams
Input, ordinary output, and error output channels.
timeout
A bound on waiting for an operation.
cleanup
Ending and collecting the owned child after interruption.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Identify an owned process and its lifecycle

    Produce an owned-child lifecycle record with actual PID and explicit control scope.

  2. 2
    29 min

    Launch with explicit arguments and working context

    Retain an explicit bounded command/context specification and pre-launch mode rejection.

  3. 3
    29 min

    Capture output and classify nonzero status

    Create an actual stdout/stderr/return-code classification matrix for successful and failed modes.

  4. 4
    29 min

    Bound waiting and clean up the timed-out child

    Demonstrate bounded timeout cleanup and retain accurate interrupted-task classification.

  5. 5
    29 min

    Distinguish elapsed time from resource limits

    Document elapsed-time evidence and a clear unimplemented-resource-controls boundary.

  6. 6
    29 min

    Deliver a repeatable supervisor record

    Deliver the owned supervisor with dynamic observations, tested lifecycle branches, and explicit resource/platform limits.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Run and Control Computer Processes practice files

Supplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

docs.python.org — subprocess.html
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Relevant documented module/API behavior inspected during expansion authoring; actual execution evidence is recorded separately. No grant eligibility is established.

Access: Official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01. Documentation reading does not certify execution in every native tool or browser.

Reuse: Original local practice files, fictional data, worked examples and questions. Concepts paraphrased and linked; source exercises are not copied.

docs.python.org — os.html
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Relevant documented module/API behavior inspected during expansion authoring; actual execution evidence is recorded separately. No grant eligibility is established.

Access: Official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01. Documentation reading does not certify execution in every native tool or browser.

Reuse: Original local practice files, fictional data, worked examples and questions. Concepts paraphrased and linked; source exercises are not copied.

docs.python.org — time.html
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Relevant documented module/API behavior inspected during expansion authoring; actual execution evidence is recorded separately. No grant eligibility is established.

Access: Official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01. Documentation reading does not certify execution in every native tool or browser.

Reuse: Original local practice files, fictional data, worked examples and questions. Concepts paraphrased and linked; source exercises are not copied.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one