Editing Starvation (computer science) (section)

{{short description|Resource shortage in computers}}
{{other uses|Starvation (disambiguation)}}

In [[computer science]], '''resource starvation''' is a problem encountered in [[concurrent computing]] where a [[process (computing)|process]] is perpetually denied necessary [[System resource|resources]] to process its work.<ref>{{cite book |title=Modern Operating Systems |url=https://archive.org/details/modernoperatings00tane |url-access=registration |last=Tanenbaum |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Tanenbaum |year=2001 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-092641-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/modernoperatings00tane/page/184 184–185] }}</ref> Starvation may be caused by errors in a scheduling or [[mutual exclusion]] algorithm, but can also be caused by [[resource leak]]s, and can be intentionally caused via a [[denial-of-service attack]] such as a [[fork bomb]].

When starvation is impossible in a [[concurrent algorithm]], the algorithm is called '''starvation-free''', '''lockout-freed'''<ref>{{cite book |title=The Art of Multiprocessor Programming |first1=Maurice |last1=Herlihy |author-link1=Maurice Herlihy |first2=Nir |last2=Shavit |author-link2=Nir Shavit |publisher=Elsevier |year=2012 |page=24 |isbn=9780123977953}}</ref> or said to have '''finite bypass'''.{{r|raynal}} This property is an instance of [[Safety and liveness properties|liveness]], and is one of the two requirements for any mutual exclusion algorithm; the other being [[Correctness (computer science)|correctness]]. The name "finite bypass" means that any process (concurrent part) of the algorithm is bypassed at most a finite number times before being allowed access to the [[shared resource]].<ref name="raynal">{{cite book |title=Concurrent Programming: Algorithms, Principles, and Foundations |first=Michel |last=Raynal |author-link=Michel Raynal |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012 |isbn=978-3642320279 |pages=10–11}}</ref>