Mutual Exclusion – ME

Question 8. What is the "test-and-set" instruction, and how does it provide mutual exclusion?

Answer:

The "test-and-set" instruction is an atomic operation used in hardware to implement mutual exclusion. It tests the value of a memory location and sets it if it was previously unset. This prevents other processes from entering the critical section while it is locked.

Resources:

Medium Article: Hardware Synchronization (Test_and_Set() and Compare_and_Swap() Instruction) | Synchronization | Operating Systems

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Youtube Video by EZCSE: OS29 - Test and Set Instruction | Hardware Synchronization

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