shared memory - TarisMajor/5143-OpSystems GitHub Wiki

Shared memory allows multiple processes to access the same block of memory, facilitating fast communication and data sharing. A process writes data to a shared memory segment, and other processes can read or modify that data. It is the fastest IPC method because processes do not need to copy data between them, unlike pipes or message queues. However, it requires careful synchronization to prevent data inconsistency.

Inventor and Year of Invention

Shared memory as an IPC method has been used since the early development of multiprogramming in the 1960s and 1970s. The System V Shared Memory feature, introduced in Unix in the early 1980s, formalized the concept.

Uses

Shared memory is often used in scenarios requiring high-speed data exchange or synchronization between processes:

Multimedia Processing: When different threads or processes handle video or audio processing, shared memory can be used to pass data between processes without copying. Large Data Processing: When large data sets are processed by multiple processes, shared memory allows them to work directly on the same data. Examples Databases: Multi-threaded databases might use shared memory to store a cache that multiple processes or threads can access simultaneously. Video Editing Software: Multiple processes accessing large video files in shared memory to perform real-time editing.