synchronization problems - TarisMajor/5143-OpSystems GitHub Wiki

Synchronization problems refer to common challenges in concurrent programming where multiple processes or threads need to safely interact with shared resources. These problems arise when processes or threads are running simultaneously, and there needs to be proper coordination to avoid conflicts and ensure correctness.

The Producer-Consumer Problem involves two types of processes: producers, which generate data, and consumers, which process that data. The challenge is to synchronize these processes so that the producer doesn't overflow a buffer and the consumer doesn't underflow it, ensuring they don’t attempt to access the buffer at the same time.

The Readers-Writers Problem occurs when multiple processes need access to a shared resource, with some processes (readers) only reading and others (writers) modifying the resource. The challenge is to allow concurrent access for multiple readers while ensuring that writers get exclusive access when needed, preventing race conditions.

The Dining Philosophers Problem is a classic synchronization problem in which philosophers sit at a table and alternate between thinking and eating. Each philosopher needs two forks to eat, and the challenge is to ensure that they don’t deadlock or starve while sharing resources (forks) and using synchronization mechanisms to allow access to them.

The Sleeping Barber Problem involves a barber who sleeps when there are no customers and serves one customer at a time. The challenge is to synchronize customer arrivals with barber availability while ensuring that customers are not left waiting indefinitely, preventing starvation.

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1. Operating System Concepts by Abraham Silberschatz, Peter B. Galvin, and Greg Gagne

2. Modern Operating Systems by Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Herbert Bos

3. Operating Systems: Design and Implementation by Andrew S. Tanenbaum

4. The Art of Multiprocessor Programming by Maurice Herlihy and Nir Shavit

5. ChatGPT