What are mutexes and locks in programming?

What are mutexes and locks in programming?

Mutexes (mutual exclusions) and locks are synchronization primitives used to manage access to shared resources in concurrent programming.

How do they differ from each other?

Mutexes are a type of lock specifically designed to allow only one thread to access a resource at a time, while locks can be more general and may allow multiple threads under certain conditions.

Can you give an example of how to use a mutex?

Sure! In C++, you can use the std::mutex class to create a mutex and use lock() and unlock() methods to control access to a shared variable.

What happens if a thread forgets to unlock a mutex?

If a thread forgets to unlock a mutex, it can lead to a deadlock situation where other threads are blocked indefinitely, waiting for the mutex to be released.