What is sem post and sem wait functions?

Answer 1

The sem_wait() function locks the semaphore referenced by sem by performing a semaphore lock operation on that semaphore. If the semaphore value is currently zero, then the calling thread will not return from the call to sem_wait()until it either locks the semaphore or the call is interrupted by a signal.


Upon successful return, the state of the semaphore is locked and remains locked until the sem_post() function is executed and returns successfully. The sem_wait() function is interruptible by the delivery of a signal.

The sem_post() function unlocks the semaphore referenced by sem by performing a semaphore unlock operation on that semaphore.

If the semaphore value resulting from this operation is positive, then no threads were blocked waiting for the semaphore to become unlocked; the semaphore value is simply incremented.

If the value of the semaphore resulting from this operation is zero, then one of the threads blocked waiting for the semaphore will be allowed to return successfully from its call to sem_wait(). If the symbol _POSIX_PRIORITY_SCHEDULING is defined, the thread to be unblocked will be chosen in a manner appropriate to the scheduling policies and parameters in effect for the blocked threads. In the case of the schedulers SCHED_FIFO and SCHED_RR, the highest priority waiting thread will be unblocked, and if there is more than one highest priority thread blocked waiting for the semaphore, then the highest priority thread that has been waiting the longest will be unblocked. If the symbol _POSIX_PRIORITY_SCHEDULING is not defined, the choice of a thread to unblock is unspecified.

The sem_post() interface is reentrant with respect to signals and may be invoked from a signal-catching function.