What does "race condition" mean in programming?
race condition is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
A bug that occurs when the behavior of a system depends on the relative timing of concurrent events. Two operations race to complete, and the outcome differs depending on which finishes first. Race conditions are hard to reproduce because they depend on timing.
Example
"Two requests checked inventory simultaneously, both saw one item in stock, and both processed the order. That race condition oversold the item."
Related terms
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