Overview of Boost.Interprocess capabilities
developBoost.Interprocess provides a suite of tools for interprocess communication (IPC) and synchronization. It allows processes to share data and coordinate actions using several low-level and high-level mechanisms.
Low-level mechanisms:
- Shared memory: Direct memory sharing between processes.
- Memory-mapped files: Mapping files into the process address space.
- Synchronization objects: Semaphores, mutexes, condition variables, and upgradable mutexes that can be placed in shared memory or memory-mapped files.
- Named synchronization objects: Named versions of the above, providing an API similar to UNIX
sem_openor WindowsCreateSemaphore. - File locking: Mechanisms to prevent concurrent file access.
- Message queues: For passing messages between processes.
- Relative pointers: Pointers designed to work correctly within shared memory segments where the base address might differ between processes.
High-level mechanisms:
- Dynamic allocation: Tools to dynamically allocate portions of shared memory or memory-mapped files.
- C++ Object Construction: Utilities to construct C++ objects, including STL-like containers, directly within shared memory or memory-mapped files.