Explaining mutex like a pro!

[text] stackoverflow.com E . A 1101 v When am having a big heated discussion at work use a rubber chicken which keep in my desk for just such occasions. The person holding the chicken is the only person who is allowed to talk. If you dont hold the chicken you cannot speak. You can only indicate that you want the chicken and wait until you get it before you speak. Once you have finished speaking you can hand the chicken back to the moderator who will hand it to the next person to speak. This ensures that people do not speak over each other and also have their own space to talk. Replace Chicken with Mutex and person with thread and you basically have the concept of a mutex. Of course there is no such thing as a rubber mutex. Only rubber chicken. My cats once had a rubber mouse but they ate it. Of course before you use the rubber chicken you need to ask yourself whether you actually need 5 people in one room and would it not just be easier with one person in the room on their own doing all the work. Actually this is just extending the analogy but you get the idea.