What are mutexes and how do they work?

What are mutexes and how do they work?

Mutexes, or mutual exclusions, are synchronization primitives used to manage access to shared resources in concurrent programming.

Why are mutexes important in multi-threading?

They prevent race conditions by ensuring that only one thread can access a resource at a time, maintaining data integrity.

Can you give me an example of how to implement a mutex in code?

Sure! In C++, you can use the std::mutex class. Here's a simple example:

#include <mutex>
std::mutex mtx;

void threadFunction() {
    mtx.lock(); // Lock the mutex
    // Critical section
    mtx.unlock(); // Unlock the mutex
}

What happens if a mutex is not released?

If a mutex is not released, it can lead to deadlocks, where threads are stuck waiting for each other indefinitely.