A synchronization primitive that ensures only one thread can access a shared resource at a time by providing mutual exclusion. When a thread acquires a mutex, other threads must wait until it's released.
Shortened from 'mutual exclusion', coined by computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra in 1965. The term combines 'mutual' from Latin 'mutuus' (reciprocal) and 'exclusion' from Latin 'excludere' (to shut out), describing the mechanism that mutually excludes concurrent access.
A mutex is like the key to a single-occupancy bathroom - only one person can have the key at a time, and everyone else has to wait in line. This prevents the chaos of multiple people trying to use the same resource simultaneously!
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