Operating System Concepts 10th Edition

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What is the primary issue with the implementation of counter++ and counter-- in the given code?

They use busy waiting
They are not atomic operations (correct)
They are not thread-safe
They are not using mutual exclusion

In the given producer-consumer problem, what is the role of the 'counter' variable?

It acts as a mutex to protect the buffer
It is used to synchronize the producer and consumer
It keeps track of the number of buffers filled (correct)
It keeps track of the number of buffers empty

What is the result of the execution interleaving shown in the text?

counter is undefined (correct)
counter = 4
counter = 6
counter = 5

What is the purpose of the 'while (counter == BUFFER_SIZE)' loop in the producer code?

To wait until the buffer is full (B) Signup and view all the answers

In the given code, what is the role of the 'buffer' variable?

It acts as a shared memory region (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the problem that the producer-consumer code is trying to solve?

Coordination of producer and consumer processes (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary concern in the shared memory approach to interprocess communication?

Providing a mechanism for user processes to synchronize their actions (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the characteristic of the unbounded-buffer approach in the producer-consumer problem?

The producer process never waits (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main difference between the bounded-buffer and unbounded-buffer approaches in the producer-consumer problem?

The buffer size (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a paradigm for cooperating processes in the producer-consumer problem?

Interprocess communication (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary advantage of the shared memory approach to interprocess communication?

Improved communication speed (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main issue in implementing a bounded-buffer solution to the producer-consumer problem?

Synchronizing the producer and consumer processes (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main drawback of the provided code?

It can only use BUFFER_SIZE-1 elements. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What approach can be used to fill all the buffers?

Using an integer counter to track the number of full buffers. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the 'in' variable in the producer process?

To keep track of the next free buffer index. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Why does the producer process use busy waiting?

To wait for the buffer to become available. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the 'out' variable in the consumer process?

To keep track of the next consumed buffer index. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What type of inter-process communication is used in the code?

Shared memory. (B) Signup and view all the answers