What is Interthread Synchronization?
Interthread synchronization is the process of ensuring that multiple threads access shared resources in an orderly manner, avoiding conflicts and ensuring that data is not modified concurrently and inconsistently.
What is Interthread Communication?
Interthread communication allows threads to exchange information, which is essential in many concurrent applications. This can be achieved through shared variables, message queues, or other interthread communication mechanisms.
Synchronization Example in Python
This code demonstrates how to use a lock to synchronize access to a shared resource between multiple threads:
import threading
shared_resource = 0
lock = threading.Lock()
def task():
global shared_resource
with lock:
shared_resource += 1
print(f"Shared resource: {shared_resource}")
thread1 = threading.Thread(target=task)
thread2 = threading.Thread(target=task)
thread1.start()
thread2.start()
thread1.join()
thread2.join()
In this example, the lock ensures that only one thread can modify the shared resource at a time, avoiding race conditions.
Interthread Communication Example in Python
This code demonstrates how to use a queue to communicate data between threads:
import threading
import queue
q = queue.Queue()
def producer():
for i in range(5):
q.put(i)
print(f"Product {i} added")
def consumer():
while True:
product = q.get()
if product is None:
break
print(f"Product {product} consumed")
producer_thread = threading.Thread(target=producer)
consumer_thread = threading.Thread(target=consumer)
producer_thread.start()
consumer_thread.start()
producer_thread.join()
q.put(None) # End signal
consumer_thread.join()
In this example, a producer thread adds items to a queue, while a consumer thread processes them. The queue allows for thread-safe communication.
Conclusion
Synchronization and communication between threads are essential to avoid concurrency problems and to create robust and efficient applications in a multithreaded environment.