What is mutex lock in OS?

Mutex in Operating System. Mutex lock is essentially a variable that is binary nature that provides code wise functionality for mutual exclusion. Only one thread at a time can take the ownership of a mutex and apply the lock. Once it done utilising the resource and it may release the mutex lock.

Click to read full answer. Correspondingly, what is mutex locks in operating system?

Mutex. Mutex is a mutual exclusion object that synchronizes access to a resource. It is created with a unique name at the start of a program. The Mutex is a locking mechanism that makes sure only one thread can acquire the Mutex at a time and enter the critical section.

Beside above, what is the difference between a mutex lock and a semaphore? Mutexes have a concept of an owner, which is the process that locked the mutex. Only the process that locked the mutex can unlock it. Also, a mutex is binary (it's either locked or unlocked), whereas a semaphore has a notion of counting, or a queue of more than one lock and unlock requests.

Keeping this in consideration, what is a lock in operating system?

< Operating System Design. Wikipedia has related information at Lock (computer science) Locks are methods of synchronization used to prevent multiple threads from accessing a resource at the same time. Usually, they are advisory locks, meaning that each thread must cooperate in gaining and releasing locks.

When would you use a mutex lock?

Use mutex where you want to allow a piece of code (normally called critical section) to be executed by one thread at a time. Use semaphore to signal/notify about some event. By following few strict rules about lock/unlock a semaphore can be used to protect a critical section.