What are the differences between atomic variables and mutexes?

What are the differences between atomic variables and mutexes?

Atomic variables allow for lock-free thread-safe operations, while mutexes provide a locking mechanism to control access.

Can you give an example of when to use atomic variables?

Sure! Use atomic variables for counters in a multi-threaded environment where you need fast, lock-free updates.

And when should I use mutexes instead?

Use mutexes when you need to protect complex data structures or when multiple threads need to read and write shared data.

Are there any performance implications of using one over the other?

Yes, atomic operations are generally faster but can lead to issues like lost updates. Mutexes are safer but can introduce latency due to locking.