livelock

parallel /li:v'lok/ When two or more processes continuously

change their state in response to changes in the other

process(es) without doing any useful work.

This is similar to deadlock in that no progress is made but

differs in that neither process is blocked or waiting for

anything.

A human example of livelock would be two people who meet

face-to-face in a corridor and each moves aside to let the

other pass, but they end up swaying from side to side without

making any progress because they always move the same way at

the same time.

[Jargon File]

(1998-07-05)