A classic synchronization problem in which one or more producer processes generate data into a shared, bounded buffer while one or more consumer processes remove it, requiring coordination so producers do not overfill the buffer and consumers do not read from an empty one.
Facts
Core PrincipleA cyclic producer process generates portions of information that a cyclic consumer process must process, the two being coupled through a buffer. 1 Connections
In Field
Invented
Edsger W. Dijkstra formulated the producer-consumer problem alongside his work on semaphores in the 1960s.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Producer-consumer problem
Lead, first sentence
is a family of problems described by Edsger W. Dijkstra since 1965.
Dijkstra's problem statement, first quoted passage
The producer is a cyclic process and each time it goes through its cycle it produces a certain portion of information, that has to be processed by the consumer.
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