A Project About Threading A Process, Discovering Mutex
This project is a training to multi-threads/multi-process programming with the use of mutex and semaphore.
It contains 3 different programs simulating a twist of the famous Dining Philosophers problem, all with the same basic rules.
This project is also a good lesson in C optimization as we need to save every bit of CPU usage we can to ensure the survival of our philosophers.
mandatory: multi-threads and use of mutex
Bonus: multi-processes and use of semaphore
• This project is to be coded in C, following the 42 Norm. Any leak, crash, undefined
behavior or norm error means 0 to the project.
• A number of philosophers are sitting at a round table doing one of three things:
eating, thinking or sleeping.
• While eating, they are not thinking or sleeping, while sleeping, they are not eating
or thinking and of course, while thinking, they are not eating or sleeping.
• The philosophers sit at a circular table with a large bowl of spaghetti in the center.
• There are some forks on the table.
• As spaghetti is difficult to serve and eat with a single fork, it is assumed that a
philosopher must eat with two forks, one for each hand.
• The philosophers must never be starving.
• Every philosopher needs to eat.
• Philosophers don’t speak with each other.
• Philosophers don’t know when another philosopher is about to die.
• Each time a philosopher has finished eating, he will drop his forks and start sleeping.
• When a philosopher is done sleeping, he will start thinking.
• The simulation stops when a philosopher dies.
• Each program should have the same options: number_of_philosophers time_to_die
time_to_eat time_to_sleep [number_of_times_each_philosopher_must_eat]
◦ number_of_philosophers: is the number of philosophers and also the number
of forks
◦ time_to_die: is in milliseconds, if a philosopher doesn’t start eating ’time_to_die’
milliseconds after starting his last meal or the beginning of the simulation, it
dies
◦ time_to_eat: is in milliseconds and is the time it takes for a philosopher to
eat. During that time he will need to keep the two forks.
◦ time_to_sleep: is in milliseconds and is the time the philosopher will spend
sleeping.
◦ number_of_times_each_philosopher_must_eat: argument is optional, if all
philosophers eat at least ’number_of_times_each_philosopher_must_eat’ the
simulation will stop. If not specified, the simulation will stop only at the death
of a philosopher.
• Each philosopher should be given a number from 1 to ’number_of_philosophers’.
• Philosopher number 1 is next to philosopher number ’number_of_philosophers’.
Any other philosopher with number N is seated between philosopher N - 1 and
philosopher N + 1
• Any change of status of a philosopher must be written as follows (with X replaced
with the philosopher number and timestamp_in_ms the current timestamp in milliseconds)
◦ timestamp_in_ms X has taken a fork
◦ timestamp_in_ms X is sleeping
◦ timestamp_in_ms X is thinking
◦ timestamp_in_ms X died
• The status printed should not be scrambled or intertwined with another philosopher’s status.
• You can’t have more than 10 ms between the death of a philosopher and when it
will print its death.
• Again, philosophers should avoid to die!