What is livelock in software and can you give examples?

What is livelock in software and can you give examples?

Livelock is a situation in computing where two or more processes continuously change states in response to each other without making progress. For example, if two threads are trying to acquire locks on shared resources but keep yielding to each other, they can end up in a livelock.

Can you provide a specific example of livelock?

Sure! Imagine two processes, A and B, both trying to access a shared resource. If A locks resource 1 and B locks resource 2, they might keep releasing their locks to allow the other to proceed, but neither can make progress because they keep yielding.

How does livelock differ from deadlock?

In a deadlock, processes are stuck waiting for each other to release resources, while in a livelock, they keep changing states but still can't proceed. Both are forms of resource contention, but livelock allows for some activity.

What are some ways to prevent livelock?

To prevent livelock, you can implement strategies like backoff algorithms, where processes wait for a random time before retrying, or using priority schemes to ensure one process can make progress.