A race condition is a situation in computer science, particularly in concurrent programming, where the behavior of software depends on the sequence or timing of uncontrollable events such as thread execution. This typically occurs in multi-threaded or distributed environments when multiple threads or processes access shared resources (like variables, memory, or files) without proper synchronization. In a race condition, if two or more threads attempt to modify the same shared resource simultaneously, the final outcome can become unpredictable, leading to inconsistent or incorrect results.
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A dependence of behavior on the relative timing or ordering of concurrent activities. In the abstract example under software thread, two increments can leave or depending on their interleaving. A C data race is a language-defined conflict with undefined behavior, rather than a name for every race condition.