What are the differences between RAM that stores data during program execution and shared memory accessible by multiple processes?

Random Access Memory (RAM) used by a program is usually allocated to a process and is only accessible to it. It stores data and instructions during program execution and is cleared after completion.

Shared memory is a region of memory that can be simultaneously accessed by multiple processes. It is used for data exchange between processes without the need for transmission through the file system or sockets, which increases performance.

Main differences:

• Availability: regular memory is only for one process; shared memory is for multiple.
• Lifecycle: regular memory exists only during the process's runtime; shared memory can exist independently.
• Usage: shared memory is used for inter-process communication (IPC).

An example in Go for creating shared memory is more complex; channels or other IPC mechanisms are usually used.