I did not set swap memory, will that affect the way Ubuntu runs?

Question

• My PC has 8Gb DDR3 RAM.
• I use Ubuntu 16.4.

I did not set swap memory due limitations of my HDD (which allows me only 4 active partitions).

Do I need swap? What difference does it make to my PC? What do I get from swap memory?

Answer 1

The purpose of SWAP is to extend your RAM using a special HDD partition or an file.

If the total of your memory usage won't reach to 8GB, the lack of SWAP partition won't affect you.

Note: If you would like to be able to hibernate your computer, then you should have a SWAP partition.

More info about SWAP can be found in What Is a Linux SWAP Partition, And What Does It Do?