How to lock on an integer in C#?

Question

Is there any way to lock on an integer in C#? Integers can not be used with lock because they are boxed (and lock only locks on references).

The scenario is as follo

Answer 1

Two boxed integers that happen to have the same value are completely indepent objects. So if you wanted to do this, your idea of Dictionary would probably be the way to go. You'd need to synchronize access to the dictionary to make sure you are always getting the same instance. And you'd have the problem of the dictionary growing in size.