The dining philosopher’s problem is a classic problem of synchronization and concurrency. Th e general problem is stated as philosophers sitting at a round table doing one of two things: eating or...

The dining philosopher’s problem is a classic problem of synchronization and concurrency. Th e general problem is stated as philosophers sitting at a round table doing one of two things: eating or thinking. When they are eating, they are not thinking, and when they are thinking, they are not eating. Th ere is a bowl of pasta in the center. A fork is placed in between each philosopher. Th e result is that each philosopher has one fork to her left and one fork to her right. Given the nature of eating pasta, the philosopher needs two forks to eat, and can only use the forks on her immediate left and right. The philosophers do not speak to one another.


Describe the scenario where none of philosophers ever eats (i.e., starvation). What is the sequence of events that happen that lead up to this problem?


Describe how we can solve this problem by introducing the concept of a priority? But can we guarantee that we will treat all the philosophers fairly? Explain.


Now assume we hire a waiter who is in charge of assigning forks to philosophers. Nobody can pick up a fork until the waiter says they can. Th e waiter has global knowledge of all forks. Further, if we impose the policy that philosophers will always request to pick up their left fork before requesting to pick up their right fork, then we can guarantee to avoid deadlock.