#concurrency

The next plan that I've been working on has been to write a series of articles, and wait until they were all complete. Then I would queue them to release one at a time, once a week.

However, with how much there is, I'm concerned that people will get fed up with waiting, as this is going to take, potentially, months to complete, and I keep going on about it, with no visible progress. I'm wondering if I should just release them as I complete them, so that everyone doesn't have to listen to me ramble constantly about content that they seemingly never get to actually see.

Heyyyy,

So, I'm super excited to start diving into some classic computer science concepts here, especially those that pop up in the world of Linux and concurrent programming. And what better place to start than with the fascinating (and sometimes frustrating!) Dining Philosophers Problem (I learned it about two days ago so please be patient :P).

Think about it: a group of philosophers are sitting around a circular table. In front of each philosopher is a bowl of delicious spaghetti. To eat (somehow) a philosopher needs two chopsticks – one to their left and one to their right. However, there's only one chopstick between each pair of philosophers.

The philosophers have a simple life cycle: they think, they get hungry, they try to pick up their chopsticks, they eat, and then they put the chopsticks down and go back to thinking.

The tricky part arises when multiple philosophers get hungry at the same time. If everyone picks up their left chopstick simultaneously, no one can pick up their right chopstick! They all end up waiting indefinitely, holding one chopstick and starving. This, my friends, is a classic example of a deadlock (and I'm not talking about Valorant's agent ;) ).

Now, why is this relevant to Linux and programming?

Well, the Dining Philosophers Problem is a great analogy for common issues we face when dealing with concurrent processes or threads that need to access shared resources (like those chopsticks!). Chopsticks represent shared resources: Think of these as locks, mutexes, semaphores, or any other mechanism used to control access to critical sections of code (I'm going to talk about those in another posts). Philosophers represent processes or threads: These are the independent units of execution trying to use the shared resources.

The act of picking up chopsticks represents acquiring locks: A process needs to acquire the necessary locks before it can proceed with its task (eating). Deadlock in the problem mirrors deadlock in programs: Just like the philosophers can get stuck waiting for each other's chopsticks, threads can get stuck waiting for locks held by other threads, leading to a program freeze (don't try it at home).

There are several interesting ways to approach solving the Dining Philosophers Problem (and preventing deadlocks in our programs!). Some common strategies include: Introducing a resource hierarchy: Making philosophers pick up chopsticks in a specific order. Allowing a philosopher to pick up both chopsticks only if both are available. Introducing a central coordinator. Limiting the number of philosophers trying to eat at the same time.

What are your initial thoughts on the Dining Philosophers Problem?

Have you encountered similar deadlock situations in your own programming projects? Let me know!

Hi, my name is Ace. I’ve had this blog for a while, but only just decided to start using it. I’m excited to finally introduce myself, so here we go.

About me:

I am 16 (January 17th 2003)

I am a concurrent high-school student attempting to finish my AA

I am a sophomore

I call myself Ace for many reasons, but also allow others to call me Sabre for a shorter version of my middle name.

I like reading and writing

I like anime (BNHA, AOT, FMA)

I’m currently binging Supernatural whilst I study Psych

Spaghetti is my spirit animal

I’ve always wanted to go to Cambridge University

What is concurrency?

For those of you wondering, much like dual-enrollment, concurrency is being a part of two different schools. The difference is that concurrency is being a part of a high school and a college!

Now, I have to be honest: my desk is messy:

My handwriting isn't neat:

And my notes aren't pretty:

And, if you couldn't tell, I have terrible photography skills.

Despite this, I hope I can inspire other students as other studyblr have always inspired me.

I wanted to add to the community in that I have a tough time finding other concurrent students and I hope to raise awareness to others about opportunities such as this, especially since concurrency is often only offered to failing students who must recover credits.

Long term goals:

Get a super score on the SAT

Finish an Associate’s degree in Psychology before/at the same time I finish high school.

Be fluent in French (To ensure I finish AG requirements for the SAT)

Feel confident in my math skills

Go to university in the UK  (I am an American)

Short term goals:

Finish the college class I’m taking now (5% of my AA)

Sign up for summer classes (Should be around 30% of my AA)

Finish the year with a 4.0

be prepared to transfer schools next year

Raise my PSAT score by 100 points 

Raise my Math PSAT score by 90 points

Become a more consistent study

What I plan to do on this blog:

Post goals

Post updates on my Concurrency journey

Educate people about concurrency

Educate people about online schooling

Post productivity updates and goals

Share what I learn

Connect with others in similar or completely different situations  

Extra details:

I’m very interested in getting into contact with other studyblrs/students so feel free to hmu or send me an ask!

This is a secondary blog so, no matter how much I love you, I won’t be able to follow you from it

Don’t be shy to reach out to me if you’re curious about something, I don’t bite!

Studyblrs I like:

@studylustre @studyign @alei-studies @shayshestudies @toomanysubjectstudyblr @neutrinostudies

It wasn't until I read about how they were handled in the SPARC architecture (I believe in a book on operating system concepts) that I actually started to get a grasp on them.