Q. What is the major advantage of the layered approach to system design? What are the de-merits of using the layered approach?

Answer: As in all cases of modular design as well as designing an operating system in a modular way has several advantages. The system is simpler to debug and modify because changes affect only limited sections of the system rather than touching all sections of the operating system. Information is kept merely where it is needed and is accessible only within a defined and restricted area thus any bugs affecting that data must be limited to a specific module or layer.