mutex

mutex

(1) (MUTually EXclusive) A programming flag used to grab and release an object. When data are acquired that cannot be shared or processing is started that cannot be performed simultaneously elsewhere in the system, the mutex is set to "lock," which blocks other attempts to use it. The mutex is set to "unlock" when the data are no longer needed or the routine is finished. See flag.

(2) (MUsic TEX) A package of macros for the TeX typesetting system that supports musical notation.

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1.	(tool, music)	MuTeX - An extension of TeX for typesetting music. ftp://nic.stolaf.edu/pub/mutex/MuTeX.tar.Z.
2.	(parallel)	mutex - A mutual exclusion object that allows multiple threads to synchronise access to a shared resource. A mutex has two states: locked and unlocked. Once a mutex has been locked by a thread, other threads attempting to lock it will block. When the locking thread unlocks (releases) the mutex, one of the blocked threads will acquire (lock) it and proceed. If multiple threads or tasks are blocked on a locked mutex object, the one to take it and proceed when it becomes available is determined by some type of scheduling algorithm. For example, in a priority based system, the highest priority blocked task will acquire the mutex and proceed. Another common set-up is put blocked tasks on a first-in-first-out queue. See also: priority inversion