Reading interlocked variables

Question

Assume:

A. C++ under WIN32.

B. A properly aligned volatile integer incremented and decremented using InterlockedIncrement() and Interlocke

Answer 1

32-bit read operations are already atomic on some 32-bit systems (Intel spec says these operations are atomic, but there's no guarantee that this will be true on other x86-compatible platforms). So you shouldn't use this for threads synchronization.

If you need a flag some sort you should consider using Event object and WaitForSingleObject function for that purpose.