What is thread safety in C# and why is it important?

What is thread safety in C# and why is it important?

Thread safety in C# refers to the property of a piece of code to function correctly during simultaneous execution by multiple threads. It's important because it prevents data corruption and ensures that shared resources are accessed in a controlled manner.

Can you give me an example of thread safety in action?

Sure! For instance, consider a scenario where multiple threads are incrementing a shared counter. If not handled properly, one thread might read the counter's value before another thread updates it, leading to incorrect results. Using locks or other synchronization mechanisms can ensure that only one thread accesses the counter at a time.

What are some common techniques to achieve thread safety?

Common techniques include using locks (like lock statement), Monitor, Mutex, and Semaphore. Additionally, immutable objects and concurrent collections can help manage thread safety.

How does the lock statement work in C#?

The lock statement in C# is used to ensure that a block of code runs by only one thread at a time. It takes an object as a parameter, which acts as a mutex. When a thread reaches a lock, it checks if another thread is already executing the block. If so, it waits until the lock is released.