Why it matters

Lock-free unlocks scalable concurrency. Understanding shapes concurrent programming.

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The architecture

Atomic CAS + retry loop.

Progress: at least one thread makes progress.

Wait-free stronger guarantee.

Lock-free CAS patternReadcurrent valueComputenew valueCASswap if unchangedMichael-Scott queue, Treiber stack, hazard pointers, epochs; Java AtomicX + Rust
Lock-free.
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How it works end to end

Michael-Scott queue.

Treiber stack.

Hazard pointers for reclamation.

Epoch-based reclamation.