The threads involved in a livelock are not blocked; they are actively performing operations, but these operations do not contribute to the program’s progress.
Cyclic Dependencies
Similar to deadlocks, livelocks often involve a cycle of dependencies, but instead of being blocked, the processes or threads continually try to resolve the deadlock by changing states.
Mutual Interference
The actions of each thread interfere iwth the actions of the others, preventing any from completing their tasks.
A scenario where two processes continually yield resources to each other to avoid deadlock. Each process tries to be “polite” by giving control to the other process, but as a result, neither can proceed.
Incorrect Recovery Attempts
System designed to detect and recover from deadlocks can sometimes enter a livelock if the recovery process involves repeatedly attempting actions that are continually negated by other processes’ recovery actions.
Implementing a backoff algorithm can help by making a thread wait for a random period before retrying an operation, reducing the chance of immediately conflicting with another thread’s actions.
Prioritization of Requests
Assigning priorities to different threads or their requests can help ensure that at least one thread makes progress by breaking the symmetry of the situation
Detection and Intervention
Monitoring the system for signs of livelock and then either manually intervening or having automated systems to break the cycle and allow progress.
Inter-Process Communication