What are the impacts of deadlock and livelock in systems?

What are the impacts of deadlock and livelock in systems?

Deadlock occurs when two or more processes cannot proceed because each is waiting for the other to release resources. Livelock, on the other hand, happens when processes continuously change states in response to each other without making progress. Both can severely impact system performance and resource utilization.

Can you give me examples of deadlock and livelock?

Sure! An example of deadlock is when Process A holds Resource 1 and waits for Resource 2, while Process B holds Resource 2 and waits for Resource 1. For livelock, imagine two processes that keep changing their states to avoid each other, but neither can proceed.

How can we prevent deadlock and livelock?

Deadlock can be prevented by using strategies like resource ordering or the Banker's algorithm. Livelock can be mitigated by implementing back-off strategies or ensuring that processes have a way to yield resources.

What are the consequences of not addressing these issues?

If deadlock and livelock are not addressed, it can lead to system crashes, reduced throughput, and overall inefficiency, causing significant delays in processing tasks.