What does 'top' command display?

The 'top' command is a powerful utility in Linux that provides a dynamic, real-time view of all currently running processes on the system. When executed, it displays a list of processes that are sorted by their CPU usage by default, along with various details about each process. This includes information such as the process ID (PID), the user who owns the process, the amount of CPU and memory being used, the command that started the process, and the elapsed time since the process began.

This command is especially useful for monitoring system performance and identifying which processes are consuming the most resources at any given moment. Users can also interact with the 'top' interface to sort processes by different criteria, kill processes, or change their priority. While other commands can provide information about disk usage, network connections, or user sessions, 'top' is specifically designed to focus on real-time process and resource management.