What Are Race Conditions and Deadlocks?

A race condition occurs when two or more computer operations attempt to access and modify the same shared resource simultaneously, causing the outcome to depend unpredictably on which operation finishes first. A deadlock happens when two or more operations are indefinitely blocked because each operation is holding a resource that the other operation needs before it can proceed. In simple terms, a race condition causes incorrect data due to bad timing, while a deadlock causes a complete system freeze due to mutual waiting.

A Relatable Real-Life Analogy

Imagine a shared checking account containing exactly $100. Two account holders, Alice and Bob, insert their debit cards into separate ATM machines at the exact same second to withdraw $100.

If the banking system experiences a race condition , both ATMs read the balance as $100 simultaneously.…