What is the performance impact of using locks in concurrent programming?

What is the performance impact of using locks in concurrent programming?

Using locks can significantly impact performance, especially in high-concurrency scenarios. They can lead to contention, where multiple threads are waiting for a lock, causing delays.

Are there alternatives to locks that can improve performance?

Yes, alternatives like lock-free data structures, atomic operations, and read-write locks can help reduce contention and improve performance.

How do read-write locks differ from regular locks?

Read-write locks allow multiple readers to access a resource simultaneously while ensuring exclusive access for writers, improving concurrency.

Can you give an example of when to use a lock?

Locks are useful when you need to protect shared resources, like updating a shared counter or modifying a data structure that multiple threads access.