How can you identify which processes are consuming the most memory?

Using tools like top or htop is the most effective way to identify which processes are consuming the most memory. These utilities provide real-time monitoring of system resources, including memory usage. When you run top or htop, you can see a list of processes sorted by their resource consumption, including memory. This allows users to quickly identify which processes are taking up the most memory at any given time.

Top displays a dynamic view of the system’s processes, updating continuously. Htop, on the other hand, offers a more user-friendly interface, with color coding and the ability to interactively manage processes, making it easier to identify memory hogs.

In contrast, other options like ps provide a snapshot of current processes, but it does not continuously refresh or sort by memory usage. The command memory does not exist in standard Linux distributions, and df focuses on disk space usage rather than process memory. As a result, top or htop stands out as the best tools for monitoring real-time memory usage of processes.