Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Inter-process communication
open-in-new
<h2 id="disadvantages">Disadvantages</h2> <p>Merging data from two processes can often incur significantly higher costs compared to processing the same data on a single thread, potentially by two or more orders of magnitude due to overheads such as inter-process communication and synchronization. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="approaches">Approaches</h2> <p>Different approaches to IPC have been tailored to different <a href="/facts/Software_requirements/jv2xHFey">software requirements</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Algorithmic_efficiency/VutjvPTd">performance</a>, <a href="/facts/Software_design/61rGr5Ej">modularity</a>, and system circumstances such as <a href="/facts/Bandwidth_(computing)/lY6Tb4gX">network bandwidth</a> and <a href="/facts/Latency_(engineering)/6Bjhn30H">latency</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <table><tbody><tr><th>Method</th><th>Short Description</th><th>Provided by (<a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating systems</a> or other environments)</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Computer_file/FjFH3Ufm">File</a></td><td>A record stored on disk, or a record synthesized on demand by a file server, which can be accessed by multiple processes.</td><td>Most operating systems</td></tr><tr><td>Communications file</td><td>A unique form of IPC in the late-1960s that most closely resembles <a href="/facts/Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs/pQjPlS7w">Plan 9</a>'s <a href="/facts/9P_(protocol)/NLNoq8mI">9P protocol</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Dartmouth_Time-Sharing_System/e0VrIbVP">Dartmouth Time-Sharing System</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Signal_(computing)/IN6VK6r8">Signal</a>; also <a href="/facts/Asynchronous_System_Trap/IcbKzABw">Asynchronous System Trap</a></td><td>A system message sent from one process to another, not usually used to transfer data but instead used to remotely command the partnered process.</td><td>Most operating systems</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Network_socket/r1ldfkb5">Socket</a></td><td>Data sent over a network interface, either to a different process on the same computer or to another computer on the network. Stream-oriented (<a href="/facts/Transmission_Control_Protocol/WW4sPrt9">TCP</a>; data written through a socket requires formatting to preserve message boundaries) or more rarely message-oriented (<a href="/facts/User_Datagram_Protocol/dxLU0D6q">UDP</a>, <a href="/facts/SCTP/s8tmzUhz">SCTP</a>).</td><td>Most operating systems</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Unix_domain_socket/fHCylnmJ">Unix domain socket</a></td><td>Similar to an internet socket, but all communication occurs within the kernel. Domain sockets use the file system as their address space. Processes reference a domain socket as an <a href="/facts/Inode/Ej7JIzyP">inode</a>, and multiple processes can communicate with one socket</td><td>All POSIX operating systems and Windows 10<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Message_queue/Kq7kX86w">Message queue</a></td><td>A data stream similar to a socket, but which usually preserves message boundaries. Typically implemented by the operating system, they allow multiple processes to read and write to the <a href="/facts/Message_queue/Kq7kX86w">message queue</a> without being directly connected to each other.</td><td>Most operating systems</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Anonymous_pipe/vS4XunKR">Anonymous pipe</a></td><td>A unidirectional data channel using <a href="/facts/Stdin/r92M7Wd4">standard input and output</a>. Data written to the write-end of the pipe is buffered by the operating system until it is read from the read-end of the pipe. Two-way communication between processes can be achieved by using two pipes in opposite "directions".</td><td>All <a href="/facts/POSIX/mQkSt234">POSIX</a> systems, Windows</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Named_pipe/g78xY9lC">Named pipe</a></td><td>A pipe that is treated like a file. Instead of using standard input and output as with an anonymous pipe, processes write to and read from a named pipe, as if it were a regular file.</td><td>All POSIX systems, Windows, AmigaOS 2.0+</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Shared_memory_(interprocess_communication)/zmpH7WuV">Shared memory</a></td><td>Multiple processes are given access to the same block of <a href="/facts/Memory_(computing)/hQKVQ51J">memory</a>, which creates a shared buffer for the processes to communicate with each other.</td><td>All POSIX systems, Windows</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Message_passing/RYf3hD3J">Message passing</a></td><td>Allows multiple programs to communicate using message queues and/or non-OS managed channels. Commonly used in concurrency models.</td><td>Used in <a href="/facts/Local_Inter-Process_Communication/4EpB7da1">LPC</a>, <a href="/facts/Remote_procedure_call/uMMb9CQw">RPC</a>, <a href="/facts/Remote_method_invocation/boz8jDHe">RMI</a>, and <a href="/facts/Message_Passing_Interface/BEuBgDpm">MPI</a> paradigms, <a href="/facts/Java_RMI/psHXkdWr">Java RMI</a>, <a href="/facts/CORBA/VUDlTHs5">CORBA</a>, <a href="/facts/Component_Object_Model/2DtIAufW">COM</a>, <a href="/facts/Data_Distribution_Service/V2fu8coB">DDS</a>, <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Message_Queuing/EhRQKdb9">MSMQ</a>, <a href="/facts/MailSlot/eDfBWoA1">MailSlots</a>, <a href="/facts/QNX/gBsfJvcB">QNX</a>, others</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Memory-mapped_file/veYrNQnl">Memory-mapped file</a></td><td>A file mapped to <a href="/facts/RAM/DuD4bxh6">RAM</a> and can be modified by changing memory addresses directly instead of outputting to a stream. This shares the same benefits as a standard <a href="/facts/File_(computing)/FjFH3Ufm">file</a>.</td><td>All POSIX systems, Windows</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="applications">Applications</h2> <h3>Remote procedure call interfaces</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Remote_procedure_call/uMMb9CQw">remote procedure call</a></p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Java_(programming_language)/9ScgFyAL">Java</a>'s <a href="/facts/Java_remote_method_invocation/psHXkdWr">Remote Method Invocation</a> (RMI)</li> <li><a href="/facts/ONC_RPC/oSR4C7hH">ONC RPC</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/XML-RPC/UleaeVRo">XML-RPC</a> or <a href="/facts/SOAP_(protocol)/vXlAMnjp">SOAP</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/JSON-RPC/v2yyqEob">JSON-RPC</a></li> <li>Message Bus (Mbus) (specified in RFC 3259) (not to be confused with <a href="/facts/M-Bus_(EN_13757)/dtbXW3PD">M-Bus</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/.NET_Remoting/62V12d3N">.NET Remoting</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/GRPC/kqTxpMWW">gRPC</a></li></ul> <h3>Platform communication stack</h3> <p>The following are messaging, and information systems that utilize IPC mechanisms but don't implement IPC themselves: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/KDE/PCh32IWA">KDE</a>'s <a href="/facts/Desktop_communication_protocol/Q9rWppPF">Desktop Communications Protocol</a> (DCOP) – deprecated by D-Bus</li> <li><a href="/facts/D-Bus/gpzM6fjI">D-Bus</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/OpenWrt/3VYxerTY">OpenWrt</a> uses <a href="https://openwrt.org/docs/techref/ubus">ubus</a> micro bus architecture</li> <li><a href="/facts/MCAPI/ylkS0e3j">MCAPI</a> Multicore Communications API</li> <li><a href="/facts/SIMPL/NbW6LU06">SIMPL</a> The Synchronous Interprocess Messaging Project for <a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a> (SIMPL)</li> <li><a href="/facts/9P_(protocol)/NLNoq8mI">9P</a> (Plan 9 Filesystem Protocol)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Distributed_Computing_Environment/0vpvuBhs">Distributed Computing Environment</a> (DCE)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Thrift_(protocol)/DWlecvw3">Thrift</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/ZeroC/wVqI6y8R">ZeroC</a>'s <a href="/facts/Internet_Communications_Engine/H0IbYqke">Internet Communications Engine</a> (ICE)</li> <li><a href="/facts/%C3%98MQ/e8R8qTMX">ØMQ</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Enduro/X/oz2e8pw6">Enduro/X</a> Middleware</li> <li><a href="http://www.inspirel.com/yami4">YAMI4</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Enlightenment_(software)/MGEattNf">Enlightenment_(software)</a> E16 uses eesh as an IPC</li></ul> <h3>Operating system communication stack</h3> <p>The following are platform or programming language-specific APIs: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Apple_Computer/oTJYta3k">Apple Computer</a>'s <a href="/facts/Apple_events/dkUzzmlE">Apple events</a>, previously known as Interapplication Communications (IAC)</li> <li><a href="/facts/ARexx/FoF8g26Q">ARexx</a> ports</li> <li><a href="/facts/ENEA_AB/ND2jhhsU">Enea's</a> <a href="/facts/LINX_(IPC)/ND2jhhsU">LINX</a> for Linux (open source) and various DSP and general-purpose processors under <a href="/facts/Operating_System_Embedded/ND2jhhsU">OSE</a></li> <li>The <a href="/facts/Mach_kernel/rqK8DES2">Mach kernel</a>'s Mach Ports</li> <li><a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a>'s <a href="/facts/ActiveX/xJb7t7Eh">ActiveX</a>, <a href="/facts/Component_Object_Model/2DtIAufW">Component Object Model</a> (COM), <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Transaction_Server/997kE5Gz">Microsoft Transaction Server</a> (<a href="/facts/COM%2B/2DtIAufW">COM+</a>), <a href="/facts/Distributed_Component_Object_Model/mpDM1JXX">Distributed Component Object Model</a> (DCOM), <a href="/facts/Dynamic_Data_Exchange/0Ar2hzjA">Dynamic Data Exchange</a> (DDE), <a href="/facts/Object_Linking_and_Embedding/Eabu8Qnl">Object Linking and Embedding</a> (OLE), <a href="/facts/Anonymous_pipe/vS4XunKR">anonymous pipes</a>, <a href="/facts/Named_pipe/g78xY9lC">named pipes</a>, <a href="/facts/Local_Procedure_Call/4EpB7da1">Local Procedure Call</a>, <a href="/facts/MailSlot/eDfBWoA1">MailSlots</a>, <a href="/facts/Message_loop_in_Microsoft_Windows/G2LJtpgA">Message loop</a>, <a href="/facts/MSRPC/Hy2vrrQe">MSRPC</a>, <a href="/facts/.NET_Remoting/62V12d3N">.NET Remoting</a>, and <a href="/facts/Windows_Communication_Foundation/IoErd0b4">Windows Communication Foundation</a> (WCF)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Novell/lABGMT7U">Novell</a>'s <a href="/facts/IPX/SPX/LCEn03Af">SPX</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/POSIX/mQkSt234">POSIX</a> <a href="/facts/Mmap/QCtfjG5u">mmap</a>, <a href="/facts/Message_queue/Kq7kX86w">message queues</a>, <a href="/facts/Semaphore_(programming)/BrE1W4Je">semaphores</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> and <a href="/facts/Shared_memory_(interprocess_communication)/zmpH7WuV">shared memory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/RISC_OS/Pc96teso">RISC OS</a>'s messages</li> <li><a href="/facts/Solaris_(operating_system)/KPfT98EJ">Solaris</a> <a href="/facts/Doors_(computing)/QxFQSFGP">Doors</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/System_V/Epm6GEY4">System V</a>'s message queues, semaphores, and shared memory</li> <li><a href="/facts/Transparent_Inter-process_Communication/0At90kGo">Linux Transparent Inter Process Communication (TIPC)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/OpenBinder/mjoSzvsg">OpenBinder</a> Open binder</li> <li><a href="/facts/QNX/gBsfJvcB">QNX</a>'s PPS (Persistent Publish/Subscribe) service</li></ul> <h3>Distributed object models</h3> <p>The following are platform or programming language specific-APIs that use IPC, but do not themselves implement it: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/PHP/vU6YRJX0">PHP</a>'s sessions</li> <li><a href="/facts/Distributed_Ruby/RYF5pgGn">Distributed Ruby</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Common_Object_Request_Broker_Architecture/VUDlTHs5">Common Object Request Broker Architecture</a> (CORBA)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Electron_(software_framework)/15eHlAWQ">Electron</a>'s asynchronous IPC, shares <a href="/facts/JSON/bs1rUAhd">JSON</a> objects between a main and a renderer process<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li>Computer programming portal</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Berkeley_sockets/edRVDP8C">Berkeley sockets</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Computer_network_programming/lG6r58eY">Computer network programming</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Communicating_Sequential_Processes/bzKGnJ50">Communicating Sequential Processes</a> (CSP paradigm)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Data_Distribution_Service/V2fu8coB">Data Distribution Service</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Database-as-IPC/Dgzt8Xrx">Database-as-IPC</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Protected_procedure_call/3c6CrBlo">Protected procedure call</a></li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/W._Richard_Stevens/t5hCDFb3">Stevens, Richard</a>. <i>UNIX Network Programming, Volume 2, Second Edition: Interprocess Communications.</i> Prentice Hall, 1999. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-13-081081-9</li> <li>U. Ramachandran, M. Solomon, M. Vernon <i><a href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=30371&coll=portal&dl=ACM">Hardware support for interprocess communication</a></i> Proceedings of the 14th annual international symposium on Computer architecture. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Pages: 178 - 188. Year of Publication: 1987 <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-8186-0776-9</li> <li>Crovella, M. Bianchini, R. LeBlanc, T. Markatos, E. Wisniewski, R. <i><a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=242738">Using communication-to-computation ratio in parallel program designand performance prediction</a></i> 1–4 December 1992. pp. 238–245 <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-8186-3200-3</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://linux.die.net/man/5/ipc">Linux ipc(5) man page</a> describing System V IPC</li> <li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365574(VS.85).aspx">Windows IPC</a></li> <li><a href="https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/ipc.html">IPC available using Qt</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.yendor.com/programming/unix/unp/unp.html">Unix Network Programming (Vol 2: Interprocess Communications)</a> by W. Richard Stevens</li> <li><a href="http://technotif.com/basic-guide-interprocess-communication-pipes/">Interprocess Communication and Pipes in C</a></li> <li><a href="http://dipc-2.sourceforge.net/">DIPC, Distributed System V IPC</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Interprocess Communications". Microsoft. <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365574(v=vs.85).aspx" target="_blank">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365574(v=vs.85).aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Camurati, P (1993). "Inter-process communications for system-level design". International Workshop on Hardware/Software Codesign. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Operating System Concepts. ISBN 978-0470128725. <a href="978-0470128725" target="_blank">978-0470128725</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Computer Organization and Design MIPS Edition: The Hardware/Software Interface (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and Design). Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 978-0124077263. <a href="978-0124077263" target="_blank">978-0124077263</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Parallel Programming: Techniques and Applications Using Networked Workstations and Parallel Computers. Pearson. ISBN 978-0131405639. <a href="978-0131405639" target="_blank">978-0131405639</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Interprocess Communications". Microsoft. <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365574(v=vs.85).aspx" target="_blank">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365574(v=vs.85).aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Windows/WSL Interop with AF_UNIX". Microsoft. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018. <a href="https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/2018/02/07/windowswsl-interop-with-af_unix" target="_blank">https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/2018/02/07/windowswsl-interop-with-af_unix</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Concurrent programming - communication between processes" <a href="http://www.tldp.org/pub/Linux/docs/ldp-archived/linuxfocus/English/Archives/lf-2003_01-0281.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.tldp.org/pub/Linux/docs/ldp-archived/linuxfocus/English/Archives/lf-2003_01-0281.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"IpcMain | Electron". <a href="https://www.electronjs.org/docs/api/ipc-main#ipcmain" target="_blank">https://www.electronjs.org/docs/api/ipc-main#ipcmain</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>