Multiple choice technology platforms and products

Which of these can be owned by a thread?

  1. Mutex

  2. Semaphore

  3. Both of the above

  4. None of the above
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A Correct answer
Explanation

A mutex (mutual exclusion) is owned by the thread that locks it. Only the owning thread can unlock a mutex, which ensures proper synchronization and prevents race conditions. Semaphores are not owned by any specific thread - any thread can signal or wait on a semaphore.

AI explanation

A mutex represents exclusive ownership: the thread that locks it becomes its owner and is the only one allowed to unlock it, and many implementations use that ownership to detect misuse. A semaphore, by contrast, is just a counter that any thread can signal or wait on — there's no concept of a specific owning thread, which is why it doesn't fit the same ownership model as a mutex.

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