- A mechanism that restricts access to a computer file, or to a region of a file, by allowing only one user or process to modify or delete it at a specific time, and preventing reading of the file while it is being modified or deleted. Systems implement locking to prevent an interceding update scenario, an example of a race condition, by enforcing the serialization of update processes. Shell scripts and other programs often use a strategy similar to file locking: They create lock files, which are files whose contents are typically irrelevant and whose sole purpose is to signal that some resource is locked. ← Wikipedia
This term is sponsored by: your name/company?
- Previous term: File extension
- Next term: File manager
- Random term: Lit (webglossary.info/random 🎲)