Producer-Consumer

The producer-consumer problem is a classic synchronization scenario where:

• Producer creates items and places them in a shared buffer
• Consumer takes items from the buffer and processes them
• The buffer has fixed capacity — the producer blocks when full, the consumer blocks when empty

The Petri net enforces synchronization using complementary places:

• buffer + buffer_space = capacity (always)
• Producer needs a buffer_space token to produce (blocks when full)
• Consumer needs a buffer token to consume (blocks when empty)
• This models bounded capacity without guards or inhibitor arcs

Watch the buffer chart to see how random scheduling creates utilization patterns. A balanced system keeps the buffer near 50%. An overproducing system fills the buffer and blocks; an underproducing system starves the consumer.