A racetrack problem is a specific instance of a type of race condition. A racetrack problem is a flaw in a system or process whereby the output and/or result of the process is unexpectedly and critically dependent on the sequence or timing of other events that run in a circular pattern. This problem is semantically different from a race condition because of the circular nature of the problem.

The term originates with the idea of two signals racing each other in a circular motion to influence the output first.[citation needed] Racetrack problems can occur in electronics systems, especially logic circuits, and in computer software, especially multithreaded or distributed programs.

See also

External links

  • Paper "" by Robert M. Fuhrer, Bill Lin and Steven M. Nowick
  • Paper "" by Luciano Lavagno, Cho W. Moon, Robert K. Brayton and Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli
  • Article "" by David A. Wheeler
  • Chapter "" (Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOWTO)
  • , with sample source code and comparison to C code, by Chiral Software