Semaphore in Operating System

Semaphore in Operating System

Blog Article

A semaphore in operating system is a synchronization tool used to control access to shared resources among multiple threads or processes. It acts as a signaling integer variable, helping prevent race conditions and ensuring orderly execution. Semaphores manage access by allowing only a certain number of processes to enter a critical section at a time.
There are two main types: binary semaphores, which take values 0 or 1 and are used for mutual exclusion, and counting semaphores, which can hold any non-negative integer and manage access to a pool of resources. Operations like "wait" (P) and "signal" (V) are used to decrease and increase the semaphore value, respectively.
Semaphore in operating system is essential for coordinating concurrent tasks, improving system efficiency, and preventing data corruption in multi-threaded or multi-process environments.