Producer-Consumer Problem

The Producer-Consumer problem is a synchronization problem in concurrent computing where:

• Producers create data items and place them in a shared buffer
• Consumers remove and process these items from the buffer

The system must ensure:

• Producers don't add to a full buffer
• Consumers don't remove from an empty buffer
• No data corruption from simultaneous access to the buffer

This problem demonstrates the need for synchronization mechanisms like semaphores, monitors, or concurrent data structures in multi-threaded environments. Solutions must handle race conditions, deadlocks, and resource constraints while maintaining throughput.

Types:

• SPSC: Single Producer, Single Consumer
• MPSC: Multiple Producers, Single Consumer
• SPMC: Single Producer, Multiple Consumers
• MPMC: Multiple Producers, Multiple Consumers