How do spinlocks compare to mutexes?

What are spinlocks and how do they differ from mutexes?

Spinlocks are a type of synchronization mechanism that busy-wait for a lock to become available, while mutexes put the thread to sleep until the lock is available. This makes spinlocks more efficient in scenarios where locks are held for a very short duration.

In what situations would you prefer using a spinlock over a mutex?

You might prefer spinlocks in low-latency scenarios where the expected wait time is very short, such as in real-time systems or when protecting short critical sections.

Are there any downsides to using spinlocks?

Yes, spinlocks can lead to CPU resource wastage if the lock is held for a long time, as they keep the CPU busy while waiting. This can degrade performance in multi-threaded applications.

Can you give an example of a programming language that supports spinlocks?

Many programming languages support spinlocks, including C and C++ through atomic operations, as well as higher-level languages like Java and C# with their concurrency libraries.