Implementing Banker’s Algorithm in C++
In this post, we implement the Banker’s Algorithm in C++ — a classic deadlock avoidance mechanism in operating systems proposed by Edsger Dijkstra. The algorithm is named after the analogy of a bank that never lends money in a way that could prevent it from satisfying all customers’ future needs. What is the Banker’s Algorithm? Before granting any resource request, the OS runs the Banker’s Algorithm to check whether doing so keeps the system in a safe state. A safe state is one where a safe sequence exists — an ordering of all processes such that each can eventually complete using currently available resources plus the resources released by earlier processes in the sequence. If no safe sequence exists, the state is unsafe, meaning deadlock is possible. The OS denies the request in that case. Three data structures are needed: Available[] — Current free units of each resource type. Allocated[][] — Resources currently held by each process. Maximum[][] — The maximum resources each process may ever request. Need[][] — Remaining resources a process may still request: Need[i][j] = Maximum[i][j] - Allocated[i][j]