The Banker's Algorithm is a resource allocation and deadlock avoidance
algorithm used in operating systems. It's designed to ensure that the
system can allocate resources to processes in a safe manner, thereby
avoiding deadlock. The algorithm was developed by Edsger Dijkstra and
named after the banking system, where a bank never allocates available
cash in such a way that it can no longer satisfy the demands of all its
customers.
The Banker's Algorithm works by simulating the allocation of resources to
processes and determining if the system can safely grant additional
resources without causing deadlock. It considers the current state of the
system, the maximum demand of each process, and the currently
available resources.
Here's a high-level overview of how the Banker's Algorithm works:
1. Initialization: The system maintains several data structures to
keep track of the available resources, maximum demand of each
process, allocated resources to each process, and the resources
currently available in the system. These data structures are
initialized based on the system's current state.
2. Safety Check: The algorithm performs a safety check to determine
if granting resources to a process will lead to a safe state. A state is
considered safe if there exists a sequence of processes that can
complete their execution without causing deadlock.
3. Resource Request: When a process requests additional resources,
the Banker's Algorithm checks if the request can be granted without
violating safety. If granting the request leads to a safe state, the
resources are allocated to the process. Otherwise, the process must
wait until sufficient resources become available.
4. Resource Release: When a process releases resources, the
resources are returned to the system's pool of available resources,
allowing other processes to use them.
Here's a simplified example to illustrate the Banker's Algorithm:
Suppose we have a system with three types of resources: A, B, and C. The
system currently has 10 units of each resource. We have three processes
(P1, P2, and P3) with their maximum demand for each resource type:
Process Max Demand
P1 (7,5,3)
P2 (3,2,2)
P3 (9,0,2)
And the currently allocated resources for each process are:
Process Allocated
P1 (0, 1, 0)
P2 (2, 0, 0)
P3 (3, 0, 2)
Now, a new request comes from Process P1 for (0, 0, 2) resources. We
need to check if granting this request will lead to a safe state using the
Banker's Algorithm. If it does, we can allocate the resources; otherwise, P1
must wait.
The Banker's Algorithm checks if there's a safe sequence to satisfy the
request. If there is, the request is granted; otherwise, it's denied, and the
process must wait.
