How do I implement shared memory in my application?

How do I implement shared memory in my application?

To implement shared memory, you can use APIs like POSIX shared memory or System V IPC. Which programming language are you using?

I'm using C. Can you provide a code example?

Sure! Here's a simple example using POSIX shared memory in C:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int main() {
    const char *name = "my_shared_memory";
    int shm_fd = shm_open(name, O_CREAT | O_RDWR, 0666);
    ftruncate(shm_fd, sizeof(int));
    int *ptr = mmap(0, sizeof(int), PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, shm_fd, 0);
    *ptr = 42; // Write to shared memory
    return 0;
}

What do I need to do to read from the shared memory?

To read from shared memory, you can use the same shm_open and mmap functions. Here's how you can read the value:

int *ptr = mmap(0, sizeof(int), PROT_READ, MAP_SHARED, shm_fd, 0);
printf("Value from shared memory: %d\n", *ptr);

Are there any limitations I should be aware of?

Yes, shared memory has limitations like size restrictions and potential race conditions. It's important to use synchronization mechanisms like semaphores.