Linux Basics Practice Test: IPC — Flashcards

Inter-process communication (IPC) is a set of mechanisms that allow processes in an operating system to communicate with each other. In Linux, IPC allows processes to: Synchronize with other processes using semaphores, Send messages to other processes, Receive messages from other processes, and Share a memory area with other processes. 
IPC is a crucial part of any Linux system. 

Linux has several IPC mechanisms, including:
Pipes: A simple form of IPC that allows two related processes to communicate
Named pipes: Similar to regular pipes, but they are given a name and are accessed via the file system
IPC sockets: Also known as Unix domain sockets, these allow processes on the same physical device to communicate
Message queues: Memory segments used by processes to store and retrieve data
Semaphores: Used to synchronize and coordinate processes' access to shared resources 

Here are some functions for IPC using message queues:
int msgget (key_t key, int msgflg): Creates and accesses a message queue
msgsnd();: Adds new messages to the end of a queue
msgrcv();: Fetches messages from a queue 

You can use the ipcdump tool to trace IPC on Linux.