I knew roughly what to do but fumbled the synchronization design at first.
Use a shared counter and a mutex with condition variables to coordinate two threads: one prints odd numbers, the other even. Each thread waits until the counter matches its parity, prints, increments the counter, and signals the other thread. This ensures ordered output and avoids busy-waiting.
Pro tip: Mention that using condition variables with a mutex is more efficient than busy-waiting, and discuss how to handle the termination condition to avoid deadlock. Also, note that the solution can be extended to more threads with a similar pattern.
Confirm that n is positive, output must be in order, and exactly two threads are used. Discuss whether n can be large and if performance matters.
Choose a shared counter and a mutex with condition variables. Explain how each thread waits for its turn based on parity and signals the other after printing.
Write pseudocode for odd and even threads: lock mutex, wait until counter parity matches, print, increment counter, signal other thread, unlock. Include termination when counter exceeds n.
Handle n=1 (only odd thread prints) and ensure both threads exit cleanly. Discuss potential deadlock scenarios and how condition variables prevent them.
Compare condition variables vs. semaphores vs. atomic flags. Discuss performance implications and scalability to more threads.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.