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Implement Shell Pipeline: Connect Commands with Pipes

hard2/8

Implement Pipes from Scratch: Circular Buffer with Blocking Read/Write Implement Unix Domain Sockets for Local IPC

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Compiler

2.0s Limit 256MB

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Implementation

Implement shell pipeline connecting two commands.

Requirements:

Create pipe using pipe() system call
Fork first child: execute command1, redirect stdout to pipe
Fork second child: execute command2, redirect stdin from pipe
Use dup2() to redirect stdin/stdout
Close unused pipe ends in each process
Parent waits for both children
Handle errors (fork, pipe, exec failures)
Support arbitrary commands (e.g., "ls | sort")

Test:

Connect ls and sort
Connect echo and wc
Show pipeline working
Handle errors properly

Why This Matters

This is literally how bash, zsh, and dash implement `cmd1 | cmd2 | cmd3` internally, using `pipe()`, `fork()`, and `dup2()` in exactly the sequence you'll write here. Forgetting to close the pipe's write end in every process that isn't writing to it is a real, well-documented bug class that causes pipelines to hang forever because the reading command never receives EOF, which is why shell source code is meticulous about closing every unused descriptor after each fork.

Hints

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Validation Suite

main.c

Workspace 1.0

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