.NET Column: Safe Thread Synchronization

By far, the most common use of thread synchronization is to ensure mutually exclusive access to a shared resource by multiple threads. In the Win32® API, the CRITICAL_SECTION structure and associated functions offers the fastest and most efficient way to synchronize threads for mutually exclusive access when the threads are all running in a single process.

Jeffrey Richter

<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/magazine/a6995bd1-0f11-42f5-9385-3ea34bb5caa8">MSDN Magazine January 2003