Deadlock: The Infinite Waiting Game (Definitive Guide)

Why processes freeze forever. From Dining Philosophers to Distributed Deadlock Detection. Includes Resource Allocation Graphs, Banker's Algorithm, and Java/DB examples.

March 7, 2025

Codemapo

Computer Science·March 11, 2025

Memory Management: Contiguous vs Non-Contiguous Allocation

Why does my server crash? OS's desperate struggle to manage limited memory. War against Fragmentation.

#CS#OS#Memory

Memory Management: Contiguous vs Non-Contiguous Allocation

Computer Science·April 24, 2025

BFS vs DFS: Graph Traversal

Two ways to escape a maze. Spread out wide (BFS) or dig deep (DFS)? Who finds the shortest path?

#CS#Algorithm#Graph#Search

Computer Science·April 21, 2025

Quick Sort: Divide and Conquer

Fast by name. Partitioning around a Pivot. Why is it the standard library choice despite O(N²) worst case?

#CS#Algorithm#Sorting

Computer Science·May 22, 2025

Keep-Alive: Don't hang up yet

Establishing TCP connection is expensive. Reuse it for multiple requests.

#CS#Web#HTTP#Optimization

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9. FAQ

Q: Is Deadlock a bug?
- A: Yes, it's a logical concurrency bug. It means the system design allows for Circular Wait.
Q: Does Java GC handle deadlocks?
- A: No. Garbage Collector manages memory, not thread locks. You need to verify standard tools like jstack.
Q: Can you have a deadlock with 1 process?
- A: Yes, if a single process tries to acquire a non-reentrant lock it already holds. (Self-deadlock).
Q: Difference between Deadlock and Livelock?
- A: Deadlock = Blocked (Waiting). Livelock = Running (Active loop without progress).
Q: How does Ctrl+Alt+Del (Task Manager) work if the OS is deadlocked?
- A: It usually triggers a high-priority interrupt that bypasses normal scheduling queues, allowing you to kill the frozen process.
Q: What is a Spinlock?
- A: A lock that causes a thread to wait in a loop utilizing CPU ("busy waiting") rather than sleeping. Efficient for short waits but wasteful for long ones.
Q: How does MySQL InnoDB detect deadlocks?
- A: It maintains a Wait-For Graph in memory. When a cycle is detected, it rolls back the transaction that has done the least work (smallest undo log).