从地址空间理解fork

Linux Process Address Space

  high address   +---------------+
                 |               |
                 |     Stack     |    int local_b
                 |               |
                 +---------------+
                 |       |       |
                 |       v       |
                 |               |
                 |               |
                 |       ^       |
                 |       |       |
                 +---------------+
                 |               |
                 |     Heap      |    int * heap_c = malloc()
                 |               |
                 +---------------+
                 |     Data      |    int global_a
                 +---------------+
                 |     Code      |
  low address    +---------------+

上图是 Linux 的进程地址空间，从低位到高位地址分别为：

• Code Segment: 程序的代码，CPU 执行的指令部分，共享只读
• Data Segment: 可细分为初始化数据段和未初始化数据段，常用于存储全局变量等
• Stack: 函数以及自动变量(未加 static 的自动变量又称为局部变量)
• Heap: 动态分配内存，如 malloc() 分配的内存

更为详细的介绍请见 Anatomy of a Program in Memory。

---

Fork

                  Parent Process             Child Process

  high address   +---------------+          +---------------+
                 |               |          |               |
                 |     Stack     |          |     Stack     |
                 |               |          |               |
                 +---------------+          +---------------+
                 |       |       |          |       |       |
                 |       v       |          |       v       |
                 |               |          |               |
                 |               |          |               |
                 |       ^       |          |       ^       |
                 |       |       |          |       |       |
                 +---------------+          +---------------+
                 |               |          |               |
                 |     Heap      |          |     Heap      |
                 |               |          |               |
                 +---------------+          +---------------+
                 |     Data      |          |     Data      |
                 +---------------+----------+---------------+
                 |                   Code                   |
  low address    +------------------------------------------+

fork 是 linux 中最重要的系统调用之一，用于创建一个新进程，它完全的复制父进程地址空间的 data segment、 heap 和 stack，但是和父进程共享一个 code segment，因为 code segment 通常为只读，从逻辑的角度来看，子进程和父进程的内存地址空间互相独立，子进程修改自己的 data segment，heap 和 stack 并不影响父进程内存空间。每次调用 fork，返回两次结果，其中父进程的返回值为子进程的 pid，子进程的返回值为 0。

#include<stdio.h>

include<stdlib.h>

include <unistd.h>

int global_a = 0; // data segment

int main(void)
{
int local_b = 0, status; // stack
int * heap_c = malloc(sizeof(int)); // heap
pid_t pid;

<span class="k">if</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">!</span><span class="n">fork</span><span class="p">()){</span>
    <span class="n">global_a</span> <span class="o">++</span><span class="p">;</span>
    <span class="n">local_b</span> <span class="o">++</span><span class="p">;</span>
    <span class="o">*</span><span class="n">heap_c</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">;</span>
    <span class="n">exit</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">);</span>
<span class="p">}</span>
<span class="k">else</span><span class="p">{</span>
    <span class="n">wait</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">&amp;</span><span class="n">status</span><span class="p">);</span>
<span class="p">}</span>

<span class="n">printf</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">"global_a = %d, local_b = %d, heap_c = %d</span><span class="se">\n</span><span class="s">"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">global_a</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">local_b</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="o">*</span><span class="n">heap_c</span><span class="p">);</span>

}

程序的输出结果如下：

$ ./a.out
global_a = 0, local_b = 0, heap_c = 0

Note：为了减轻 fork 调用开销，实际采用 copy on write(COW) 技术。

---

Properties shared by both parent and child process

虽然父进程和子进程的地址空间是独立的，但是二者依旧共享很多其它的资源，以下摘自 Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment, 3rd Edition：

• File descriptor
• Real user ID, real group ID, effective user ID, effective group ID
• Supplementary group IDs
• Process group ID
• Session ID
• Controlling terminal
• The set-user-ID and set-group-ID flags
• Current working directory
• Root directory
• File mode creation mask
• Signal mask and dispositions
• The close-on-exec flag for any open file descriptors
• Environment
• Attached shared memory segments
• Memory mappings
• Resource limits

转自：http://wsfdl.com/linux/2015/04/06/%E4%BB%8E%E5%9C%B0%E5%9D%80%E7%A9%BA%E9%97%B4%E7%90%86%E8%A7%A3fork.html