Interprocess communication
Interprocess communication is the exchange of data, information, or coordination signals between independently executing processes.
Grokking Concurrency
Interprocess communication (IPC) comprises operating-system mechanisms that allow processes to exchange data and coordinate execution.
- How it is used
- Enables isolated processes and threads to exchange data and coordinate execution.
- How deep it goes
- Defines IPC, compares major mechanisms and their trade-offs, and illustrates Python interfaces without detailing operating-system channel internals.
- Examples
- Demonstrates a Python pipe passing a rubber-duck message, queue workers processing items, and a Unix socket exchanging greetings.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via Python pipe, queue, or socket interfaces, choosing among them according to communication needs and trade-offs.
Read how Grokking Concurrency explains interprocess communication →
Fast Python: High performance techniques for large datasets
- How it is used
- Moves tabular data between producer and consumer processes, or routes jobs and results through a worker architecture.
- How deep it goes
- Demonstrates server setup, object naming, queue flow, and practical limits, without comparing IPC mechanisms systematically.
- Examples
- Uses CSV tables stored in Plasma and work/result queues in a MapReduce server.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by starting Plasma, publishing CSV tables, or wiring queues between server workers.
Related concepts
- Plasma serverused by · Plasma is an in-memory object store and server associated with Apache Arrow that enables processes to exchange objects efficiently.
- signalincludes · An operating-system signal is an asynchronous notification delivered to a process to report an event or request handling.
- shared memoryuses · Shared memory is a memory region or storage area accessible to multiple processes, threads, or other execution components for accessing or exchanging data.
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