Monitor vs Mutex in c#

Question

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What are the differences between various threading synchronization options in C#?

What is the difference between a Monitor and a Mutex in C#?

When to use a Monitor and when to use a Mutex in C#?

Solution 1

A Monitor is managed, and more lightweight - but is restricted to your AppDomain. A Mutex can be named, and can span processes (allowing some simple IPC scenarios between applications), and can be used in code that wants a wait-handle).

For most simple scenarios, Monitor (via lock) is fine.

Solution 2

A good source of advice on this stuff is the "Threading in C#" by Joseph Albahari. All the content is available online. In my opinion, it's worth to read the whole book, but yo can check these parts:

• On Locking (C# Monitor);

• On Mutex.

Although it does not cover .NET 4.0 new parallel constructs, it's a very good starting point.

Update: The book has been updated. Now, it covers .NET 4.0 Parallel Programming in its part 5.

Solution 3

A Mutex can be shared across processes, and is much more heavy-weight than a Monitor.

Use a Monitor unless you need to synchronize across process boundaries.