UNIX Pipes
A pipe between two processes is similar to a tubular piece of plumbing. When a UNIX pipe is created, a data pipeline is formed between a writing process and a reading process. The UNIX pipe can become plugged if the reading process does not continue to receive the piped data. Unlike a physical pipe, however, some versions of UNIX insist that the data must flow in one direction: from its source to its destination.
In Chapter 2, "UNIX File System Objects," you read about FIFOs, which are also known as named pipes. This chapter, however, will be concerned with nameless pipes. Unlike FIFOs, nameless pipes are created in the open state and only exist between processes.
Creating UNIX Pipes
The system call that is responsible for creating ...
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