IPCinterfaces

IPC interfaces (inter-process communication interfaces) are the set of APIs and mechanisms that enable communication and synchronization between processes. They allow separate processes to exchange data, coordinate actions, and share resources across process boundaries. IPC interfaces are provided by operating systems and runtime environments and can operate within a computer system or across networked nodes when extended by network protocols.

Common IPC primitives include pipes and named pipes (FIFOs) for byte streams, message queues for discrete messages, shared memory for high-speed data exchange, and synchronization primitives such as semaphores and mutexes. Sockets provide networked IPC, while higher-level frameworks enable remote procedure calls or service discovery. Platform-specific implementations include POSIX IPC (pipe, shm_open, mmap, mq_open, sem_open) and Windows IPC (named pipes, file mappings, RPC, COM). Middleware such as D-Bus on Linux provides user-space IPC.

Key considerations when designing or selecting IPC interfaces include latency and throughput requirements, data size, blocking versus non-blocking semantics, ordering and delivery guarantees, and one-to-one versus one-to-many communication patterns. Security and access control are important, as IPC channels may expose sensitive data; mechanisms often enforce permissions and sandboxing. IPC interfaces influence software architecture by enabling modularity and isolation, while also introducing complexity and potential bottlenecks.