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Software Engineering vocabulary · Programming Concepts

Mutex

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, mutex means: A synchronization mechanism that allows only one cooperating execution context at a time to enter a protected section.

In Turkish: karşılıklı dışlama kilidi

How it is used

Used in concurrent programming to protect shared state. All relevant accesses must follow the locking protocol for the protection to work.

Example sentences

  1. Acquire the mutex before updating the shared counter.

  2. Holding the mutex during a network call blocks the other workers.

Common collocations

  • acquire a mutex
  • release a mutex
  • mutex contention
  • threadA sequence of execution within a process that can run alongside other sequences while sharing some process resources.
  • lockA mark the database places on a row, page or table so that other transactions cannot change it, or sometimes read it, until the current transaction ends.
  • deadlockA situation where two or more transactions each wait for a lock the other holds, so none of them can continue until the database cancels one.

More terms: Programming Concepts

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