Final answer:
Mutual exclusion in a system requires specific conditions to be met: at least one non-sharable resource, a uniprocessor, and at least one sharable resource.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mutual exclusion refers to the property in which only one process or thread can access a resource at a time, ensuring that conflicting operations do not occur simultaneously. In order for mutual exclusion to prevail in a system, all of the following conditions must be met:
- At least one resource must be held in a non-sharable mode, meaning that it cannot be simultaneously accessed by multiple processes or threads.
- The processor must be a uniprocessor rather than a multiprocessor, as multiprocessor systems allow for parallel execution of multiple processes or threads.
- There must be at least one resource in a sharable mode, indicating that it can be accessed by multiple processes or threads without conflicts.
These conditions ensure that only one process or thread can hold a non-sharable resource at a time and that conflicts are prevented when accessing sharable resources.