This project is my implementation of the Producer–Consumer problem using C language on **Linux (Ubuntu/WSL) **.
It uses shared memory so the producer and consumer processes can share data, and semaphores for synchronization and mutual exclusion.
The producer creates items and puts them into a shared buffer (the "table"), and the consumer removes them.
The table can hold only 2 items at a time.
If the table is full, the producer waits.
If the table is empty, the consumer waits.
Both programs run as separate processes, not threads.
How to Compile
Make sure you are inside the producer-consumer folder, then run:
make
How to Run
Run both producer and consumer together (they will produce and consume 20 items):
make run-demo
You can also run them manually:
./bin/producer &
./bin/consumer &
To remove shared memory and semaphores (cleanup):
./bin/cleanup
How It Works
Shared Memory (shm_open, ftruncate, mmap)
Stores the shared buffer, which both processes use.
Semaphores (sem_open, sem_wait, sem_post) Used to control access and make sure producer and consumer don’t conflict.
Mutual Exclusion A separate semaphore mutex is used so only one process accesses the buffer at a time.
Files Included File Description src/producer.c = Producer process src/consumer.c =Consumer process src/common.h = Shared constants and structure src/cleanup.c =Removes shared memory and semaphores Makefile = Compiles all programs example_output/ = Contains screenshots of program run
Example Results Compilation:
Running Producer & Consumer:
Cleanup:
Author Simran Gautam Operating Systems — Assignment #1 Fall 2025