2.1.6 Thinking concurrently

• Concurrent thinking handles multiple tasks at the same time
• In concurrency, tasks start, run, and complete in overlapping time periods
• Match the feature with its corresponding unit of execution in an operating system.

  Memory Space ↔️ Process: Separate, Thread: Shared

  Context Switching ↔️ Process: Higher overhead, Thread: Lower overhead
• A web server can use multiple threads within a single process to handle concurrent client requests, improving efficiency
• Mutual exclusion uses locks or semaphores
• Concurrency optimizes resource utilization and reduces overall processing time
• Concurrency manages multiple tasks by interleaving their execution
• A process is a complete and independent unit of execution with its own memory space
• Threads share the same memory space and resources as their parent process.


  True
• Synchronization is the coordination of multiple threads to prevent race conditions and deadlocks.


  True
• Mutual exclusion protects shared resources from simultaneous access.

  True
• What type of communication occurs through message queues or mailboxes?

  Message Passing
• The Reader-Writer pattern allows multiple threads to read concurrently, but only one thread to write at a time.


  True
• Applying concurrency patterns and principles results in systems that are more robust, scalable, and easier to maintain.

  True
• Concurrent thinking is crucial for creating responsive and scalable computer systems.

  True
• What is the primary difference between concurrency and parallelism?

  Parallelism executes tasks simultaneously
• Processes have their own memory space and resources, whereas threads share the same resources
• Processes are complete and independent units of execution
• Concurrent thinking involves solving multiple problems or tasks simultaneously
• Concurrency allows systems to scale effectively by allocating additional resources to parallel tasks.

  True
• Parallelism involves the simultaneous execution of tasks on multiple cores or processors.


  True
• Threads within a process share the same memory space and resources.


  True
• What are the fundamental units of execution in an operating system?

  Processes and Threads
• Why do threads have lower overhead for context switching compared to processes?

  They share memory space
• What mechanism ensures only one thread can access a critical section at a time?

  Mutual Exclusion
• What are the two primary mechanisms for communication between concurrent components?

  Shared Memory and Message Passing
• Message passing achieves implicit synchronization through message queues
• What concurrency pattern models the challenge of avoiding deadlocks with limited resources?

  Dining Philosophers
• Immutable data structures are inherently thread-safe because they cannot be modified after creation.


  True
• The Producer-Consumer pattern helps manage the flow of data between concurrent components using a shared buffer
• Steps to avoid shared mutable state in concurrent programming

  1️⃣ Minimize shared mutable state

  2️⃣ Use immutable data

  3️⃣ Pass copies of data
• What strategy can prevent deadlocks in concurrent systems?

  Acquire locks in order
• Concurrent thinking requires dividing problems into parallel sub-tasks.


  True
• Match the concurrent and sequential approaches with their characteristics:

  Concurrent ↔️ Handles multiple tasks through parallel execution

  Sequential ↔️ Processes one task at a time in a step-by-step manner
• Concurrency allows systems to respond promptly to inputs without blocking other processes.


  True
• Concurrency involves managing multiple tasks by interleaving their execution
• Which type of concurrency benefits from a single-core processor?

  Improved responsiveness
• Processes have their own separate memory space, while threads share the same memory space.

  True
• Threads have lower overhead for context switching
• Match the feature with its concept:

  Synchronization ↔️ Maintain data consistency

  Mutual Exclusion ↔️ Protect shared resources