Deadlock
/ˈdɛdlɒk/dead·locknoun
Definition
1.[in computer science] a state in which two or more processes are each waiting for the other to release a resource, resulting in a permanent halt of execution.
The system entered a deadlock when two threads simultaneously tried to acquire the same mutex in opposite orders.
Formal statement
Etymology
Coined by Edsger W. Dijkstra in the context of concurrent programming, derived from the concept of mutual blocking.
Synonyms
- mutual-blockingsense 1 · Absolute
References
- Dijkstra, E. W. (1965). Co-operating sequential processes.Communications of the ACM.