Spinlock versus Semaphore

Question

What are the basic differences between a semaphore & spin-lock?

When would we use a semaphore over a spin-lock?

Answer 1

A "mutex" (or "mutual exclusion lock") is a signal that two or more asynchronous processes can use to reserve a shared resource for exclusive use. The first process that obtains ownership of the "mutex" also obtains ownership of the shared resource. Other processes must wait for for the first process to release it's ownership of the "mutex" before they may attempt to obtain it.

The most common locking primitive in the kernel is the spinlock. The spinlock is a very simple single-holder lock. If a process attempts to acquire a spinlock and it is unavailable, the process will keep trying (spinning) until it can acquire the lock. This simplicity creates a small and fast lock.