What are some real-world examples of thread synchronization?

What are some real-world examples of thread synchronization?

Thread synchronization is crucial in multi-threaded applications. For example, in a banking system, multiple threads may access account data simultaneously. To prevent data corruption, synchronization mechanisms like mutexes or semaphores are used.

Can you explain how mutexes work in this context?

Sure! A mutex, or mutual exclusion, is a locking mechanism that ensures only one thread can access a resource at a time. When a thread locks a mutex, other threads trying to lock it will be blocked until the mutex is unlocked.

Are there any performance issues with using mutexes?

Yes, using mutexes can lead to performance bottlenecks, especially if threads spend a lot of time waiting for locks. This can be mitigated by minimizing the time a mutex is held and using finer-grained locking.

What are some alternatives to mutexes?

Alternatives include read-write locks, which allow multiple readers or a single writer, and lock-free data structures that use atomic operations to avoid locking altogether.