The dining philosophers problem is a classic computer science challenge that requires programmers to design a solution for multiple philosophers running without causing a deadlock, each philoospher being a separate thread.
Working with multiple threads was something interesting and new for me. I learned to work with multiple threads that share memory and run concurrently. It taught me the importance of using mutexes to protect shared variables against data races.
- cd to philo or philo_bonus
- make
- For philo: ./philo 4 410 200 200 5
- 4 - number of philos
- 410 - time to die
- 200 - time to eat
- 200 - time to sleep
- 5 - number of meals until finishing. Program can run without this argument (./philo 4 410 200 200)
- For philo_bonus: ./philo_bonus 4 410 200 200 5
- 4 - number of philos
- 410 - time to die
- 200 - time to eat
- 200 - time to sleep
- 5 - number of meals until finishing. Program can run without this argument (./philo_bonus 4 410 200 200)
pthread_create(): Creates a new thread.pthread_join(): Waits until a specific thread finishes to avoid having zombie threads.pthread_mutex_init(): Creates a mutex.pthread_mutex_destroy(): Destroys a mutex.pthread_mutex_lock(): Locks a mutex.pthread_mutex_unlock(): Unlocks a mutex.usleep(): Makes a thread sleep for a specified number of microseconds.gettimeofday(): Returns the number of microseconds passed since January 1, 1970.malloc(): Allocates memory on the heap.free(): Frees memory from the heap.printf(): Prints messages.
fork(): Creates a new process.exit(): Exits the current process.waitpid(): Waits until a specific process finishes.pthread_create(): Creates a new thread.pthread_join(): Waits until a specific thread finishes to avoid having zombie threads.sem_open(): Creates a semaphore.sem_close(): Closes a semaphore.sem_wait(): Locks a semaphore if available, or waits until it becomes available (subtracts 1 from the semaphore).sem_unlink(): Deletes a semaphore after the program finishes.sem_post(): Unlocks a semaphore (adds 1 to the semaphore).usleep(): Makes a thread sleep for a specified number of microseconds.gettimeofday(): Returns the number of microseconds passed since January 1, 1970.malloc(): Allocates memory on the heap.free(): Frees memory from the heap.printf(): Prints messages.
I highly recommend watching this playlist and repeating after the instructor.
Phiosophers-visualizer can help you understand how your program is acting.
For a detailed explanation, watch my video explanation.
