SharedInt

SharedInt is a data structure used in concurrent programming to allow multiple threads or processes to safely access and modify a single integer value. It is designed to prevent race conditions, which occur when the outcome of a computation depends on the unpredictable timing of multiple threads accessing shared data.

The core functionality of SharedInt typically involves atomic operations. These are operations that are guaranteed to complete without interruption from other threads. Common atomic operations for a SharedInt might include incrementing the value, decrementing it, reading its current value, and setting it to a specific new value. These operations ensure that even if multiple threads try to modify the SharedInt simultaneously, the operations will be performed in a defined order, preventing data corruption.

The implementation of SharedInt often relies on underlying hardware-level atomic instructions provided by the processor. These instructions allow for operations like compare-and-swap (CAS) or fetch-and-add to be executed indivisibly. In environments without direct hardware support, higher-level synchronization primitives like mutexes or semaphores might be used to simulate atomic behavior, though this can sometimes introduce performance overhead.

SharedInt is a fundamental building block for implementing more complex concurrent data structures and algorithms. It is commonly found in libraries and frameworks that deal with multithreading or multiprocessing, providing a safe and efficient way to manage shared counters, flags, or other simple numerical state across different execution contexts. Its primary benefit is simplifying the development of concurrent applications by abstracting away the complexities of low-level synchronization.