sem_overview(7) - Linux man page
Name
sem_overview - Overview of POSIX semaphoresDescription
A semaphore is an integer whose value is never allowed to fall below zero. Two operations can be performed on semaphores: increment the semaphore value by one (sem_post(3)); and decrement the semaphore value by one (sem_wait(3)). If the value of a semaphore is currently zero, then a sem_wait(3) operation will block until the value becomes greater than zero.
POSIX semaphores come in two forms: named semaphores and unnamed semaphores.
Named semaphores
A named semaphore is identified by a name of the form /somename. Two processes can operate on the same named semaphore by passing the same name to sem_open(3).The sem_open(3) function creates a new named semaphore or opens an existing named semaphore. After the semaphore has been opened, it can be operated on using sem_post(3) and sem_wait(3). When a process has finished using the semaphore, it can use sem_close(3) to close the semaphore. When all processes have finished using the semaphore, it can be removed from the system using sem_unlink(3).
Unnamed semaphores (memory-based semaphores)
An unnamed semaphore does not have a name. Instead the semaphore is placed in a region of memory that is shared between multiple threads (a thread-shared semaphore) or processes (a process-shared semaphore). A thread-shared semaphore is placed in an area of memory shared between by the threads of a process, for example, a global variable. A process-shared semaphore must be placed in a shared memory region (e.g., a System V shared memory segment created using semget(2), or a POSIX shared memory object built created using shm_open(3)).Before being used, an unnamed semaphore must be initialised using sem_init(3). It can then be operated on using sem_post(3) and sem_wait(3). When the semaphore is no longer required, and before the memory in which it is located is deallocated, the semaphore should be destroyed using sem_destroy(3).
