Final answer:
The question relates to Computers and Technology, specifically to concurrency mechanisms in programming. Locks and binary semaphores are both synchronization tools used to manage access to resources in concurrent programming, with subtle differences such as ownership attributed to locks.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question 'Locks vs Semaphores, lock vs binary semaphore' pertains to the field of Computers and Technology, specifically in the area of operating systems and concurrent programming. In this context, a lock is a synchronization mechanism that ensures that only one thread can access a resource or a critical section of code at a time. A lock is often implemented in such a way that if a thread holds a lock, any other thread attempting to acquire the same lock will block until the lock is released.
On the other hand, a semaphore is a more general synchronization mechanism which can be used to control access to a resource as well. Semaphores can be either counting semaphores, which allow a certain number of threads to access a given resource simultaneously, or binary semaphores (also known as mutexes), which work similarly to locks in that they allow only one thread to access a resource at a time.
The key difference between a lock (also called a mutex) and a binary semaphore is often in their usage and their features, such as ownership, where locks are typically associated with a specific thread that can lock or unlock it, while binary semaphores do not have a sense of ownership.