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What is concurrent programming?

Historically, most programs are examples of ``sequential programming''. That is, they consist of a series of operations that are carried out one at a time. With ``concurrent programming'' the programmer can specify sets of instructions that potentially can be executed in parallel and still provide correct results.

The advantages of this style of programming are:

Concurrent programming has been available in the UNIX System since its inception via the ``process model''. In the UNIX System problems are solved not just by running programs but by running sets of programs (a running program is called a ``process'') -- sometimes pre-existing ``tools'' or ``commands''; sometimes specifically written programs -- that work together (often concurrently) to solve the problem. Processes can communicate and synchronize with each other by mechanisms that include:
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