Process Synchronization

What Is the Banker’s Algorithm?

The Banker’s Algorithm is a deadlock-avoidance algorithm that grants a resource request only if the resulting system state is provably safe, meaning there stil…

What Is Deadlock Prevention?

Deadlock prevention is a design strategy that structurally rules out at least one of the four necessary conditions for deadlock — mutual exclusion, hold-and-wa…

What Is Deadlock Avoidance?

Deadlock avoidance is a dynamic strategy where the OS allows all four necessary conditions for deadlock to hold, but grants each resource request only after ch…

What Is Deadlock Detection?

Deadlock detection is a reactive strategy where the OS allows deadlock to potentially occur, periodically checks the system state for it using an algorithm ove…

What Is a Resource-Allocation Graph?

A resource-allocation graph is a directed graph model used to represent which processes hold which resources and which processes are waiting for which resource…

Peterson’s Solution for Mutual Exclusion

Peterson’s solution is a software-only algorithm for two processes that guarantees mutual exclusion, progress, and bounded waiting using only two shared variab…

What is a Named Pipe (FIFO)?

A named pipe, or FIFO, is a special filesystem entry that behaves like an anonymous pipe but has a persistent path name, allowing entirely unrelated processes…

What is Message Passing in Operating Systems?

Message passing is an IPC model where processes exchange discrete, self-contained messages through kernel-mediated send() and receive() primitives, rather than…

What is Shared Memory IPC?

Shared memory IPC is a technique where the OS maps the same physical memory frames into the address spaces of two or more processes, letting them read and writ…

What Hardware Support Exists for Process Synchronization?

Hardware support for process synchronization refers to CPU instructions — such as Test-and-Set, Swap (Exchange), and Compare-and-Swap — that execute as a singl…