In the world of computer science and operating systems, both mutex and semaphore are the resources that provide synchronisation services. Let’s discuss some major differences between semaphore and mutex.
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What is Semaphore?
In the world of computer programming, a semaphore is an integral variable or an abstract data type shared among numerous methods. The foremost objective of using semaphore is process synchronisation and access control for a resource in a similar programming environment.
What is Mutex?
The full form of Mutex is Mutual Exclusion Object. The mutex object is used to guard a shared resource from concurrent access by multiple threads.
Difference between Semaphore and Mutex
| S.No. | Semaphore | Mutex |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | It follows a signalling mechanism. | It follows a locking mechanism. |
| 2 | It is an integer variable. | It is an object. |
| 3 | In semaphore, you can get numerous program threads. | In mutex, you can get numerous threads but not concurrently. |
| 4 | There are two types of semaphore: counting and binary semaphore. | In mutex, there are no subtypes included. |
| 5 | Here, the value can be modified by using wait () and signal () operation. | Here, the objects are locked or unlocked. |
| 6 | Both wait and signal operations can alter a semaphore. | Mutex objects are altered only by the method that may release a resource. |
| 7 | Here, the value can be modified by any method releasing or getting the resource. | The object lock is discharged only by the method which has acquired the lock on it. |
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