Producer Consumer Problem in Operating System

In this video, we will be discussing what is producer consumer problem in operating systems.

What is Producer Consumer Problem

The Producer Consumer problem is a process synchronization problem. In this problem, there is a memory buffer of a fixed size. Two processes access the shared buffer: Producer and Consumer. A producer creates new items and adds to the buffer, while a consumer picks items from the shared buffer. The problem is to ensure synchronization between the producer and the consumer such that while the producer is adding an item to the buffer, the consumer does not start accessing it.

Further, the producer should not try to add items to the buffer when it is full and the consumer should not access the buffer when it is empty. If the producer finds the buffer full, it should either sleep or discard the new item until the consumer frees a location in the buffer.

Similarly, a consumer may go to sleep if it finds the buffer empty. When the producer adds an item, the consumer can continue retrieving the data.

The Producer-Consumer problem is also known as the Bounded Buffer problem.

A solution is required for the Producer-Consumer problem such that both processes can perform their tasks without ending up in a deadlock.

Let's watch the video to understand what solution is required for producer-consumer problem.

Producer consumer problem:
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/producer-consumer-problem-using-semaphores-set-1/