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Synchronization (Windows CE 5.0)

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In an OS where several threads run concurrently, it is important to be able to synchronize the activities of various threads.

Windows CE provides several synchronization objects that enable you to synchronize a thread's actions with those of another thread. These objects include critical sections, mutexes, events, and semaphores. Each object type, such as memory maps, semaphores, events, message queues, mutexes, and watchdog timers, has its own separate namespace. Empty strings, "", are handled as named objects. On Windows desktop-based platforms, synchronization objects all share the same namespace.

Additionally, you can use interlocked functions to synchronize a thread.

Regardless of the synchronization method you use, a thread synchronizes itself with another thread by releasing a synchronization object and then entering a wait state.

The synchronization object tells the OS what special event must occur before the thread can resume execution.

When the event occurs, the thread is again eligible to be scheduled for CPU time. After it is scheduled, the thread continues executing. The thread has now synchronized its execution with the occurrence of the event.

See Also

Scheduling | Critical Section Objects | Mutex Objects | Event Object Notification | Semaphore Objects | Wait Functions | Interlocked Functions | Interprocess Synchronization | Message Queue Point-to-Point

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