Rendezvous (computer science)

In computer science , a rendezvous is a variant of synchronous interprocess communication . A rendezvous is a contact point between two concurrent processes for the transfer of data , whereby the sending process waits at a certain point in its program until the receiving process has picked up the data. Conversely, when the receiver needs the data, it waits until the sender provides the data.

This corresponds to a synchronous message transmission with blocking reception in a network , in which the recipient waits until it receives data and the sender waits after the message has been sent until the recipient has confirmed receipt.

If the transfer does not take place after a specified time, the process can abort with an error ( time-out ).

The name "Rendezvous" comes from the similarity with an appointment to hand over an object in everyday life. The procedure corresponds to the behavior that is observed, for example, when handing over the keys: both people must be present for the handover to take place. Whoever comes first has to wait until the other one is there too. The time-out corresponds to the situation in which the waiting person gives up because the other person does not appear for a long time. Then the handover failed.