Inter-process communication

Inter-process communication (IPC) is the exchange of data between one process and another, either within the same computer or over a network. It implies a protocol that guarantees a response to a request. Examples are Unix sockets, RISC OS's messages, Mach ports, OS/2's named pipes, Microsoft Windows' DDE, Novell's SPX, Apple Macintosh's IAC (particularly AppleEvents) and different forms of software componentry (CORBA, Component Object Model ...).

Although IPC is performed automatically by programs, an analogous function can be performed interactively when users cut and paste data from one process to another using a clipboard.

Table of IPC Methods:

Method	Operating Systems
File	All operating systems
Signal	All operating systems
Pipe	All POSIX systems
Named pipe	All POSIX systems
Shared memory	All POSIX systems
Memory map	All POSIX systems; may carry race condition risk if a temporary file is used

References

System V IPC under Linux (man page)

This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.

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