Exam 5: Concurrency: Mutual Exclusion and Synchronization

The classic concurrency problem that involves multiple readers that can read from a shared data area when no single writer is exclusively writing to it is the _________ Problem.

A _________ occurs when multiple processes or threads read and write data items so that the final result depends on the order of execution of instructions in the multiple processes.

A _________ is an integer value used for signaling among processes.

The _________ is a programming language construct that provides equivalent functionality to that of semaphores and is easier to control.

__________ is a function or action implemented as a sequence of one or more instructions that appears to be indivisible; no other process can see an intermediate state or interrupt the operations.

Concurrent processes do not come into conflict with each other when they are competing for the use of the same resource.

A ___________ is a semaphore that takes on only the values of 0 and 1.

In the case of __________ , processes are sharing resources without being aware of the other processes.

It is possible in a single-processor system to not only interleave the execution of multiple processes but also to overlap them.

The central themes of operating system design are all concerned with the management of processes and threads.

In the case of _________ , messages are not sent directly from sender to receiver but rather are sent to a shared data structure consisting of queues that can temporarily hold messages.

A _________ is a data type that is used to block a process or thread until a particular condition is true.

Processes need to be synchronized to enforce mutual exclusion.

A semaphore whose definition includes the policy that the process that has been blocked the longest is released from the queue first is called a __________ semaphore.

A situation in which multiple threads or processes read and write a shared data item and the final result depends on the relative timing of their execution is a __________ .

Probably the most useful combination, __________ allows a process to send one or more messages to a variety of destinations as quickly as possible.

Two or more processes can cooperate by means of simple signals, such that a process can be forced to stop at a specified place until it has received a specific signal.

As an extension of the principles of modular design and structured programming, some applications can be effectively programmed as a set of concurrent processes.

A process that is waiting for access to a critical section does not consume processor time.

When processes cooperate by communication, the various processes participate in a common effort that links all of the processes.