2.4. Interprocess Communication in Linux
If one process exchanges data with another process, it is called interprocess com-
munication (IPC). Linux o ers a variety of mechanisms for IPC. These are the
following listed: [23]
Signals Oldest IPC method. A process can send signals to processes with the
same uid and gid or in the same process group.
Pipes Pipes are unidirectional bytestreams that connect the standard output
from one process with the standard input of another process.
Sockets A socket is an endpoint of bidirectional communication. Two processes
can communicate with bytestreams by opening the same socket.
Message queues Processes can write a message to a message queue that is read-
able for other Processes.
Semaphores A semaphore is a shared variable that can be read and written by
many processes.
Shared Memory A location in system memory mapped into virtual address
spaces of two processes, that each process can fully access.
If one process exchanges data with another process, it is called interprocess com-
munication (IPC). Linux o ers a variety of mechanisms for IPC. These are the
following listed: [23]
Signals Oldest IPC method. A process can send signals to processes with the
same uid and gid or in the same process group.
Pipes Pipes are unidirectional bytestreams that connect the standard output
from one process with the standard input of another process.
Sockets A socket is an endpoint of bidirectional communication. Two processes
can communicate with bytestreams by opening the same socket.
Message queues Processes can write a message to a message queue that is read-
able for other Processes.
Semaphores A semaphore is a shared variable that can be read and written by
many processes.
Shared Memory A location in system memory mapped into virtual address
spaces of two processes, that each process can fully access.