What is "race condition"

n. (context electronics computing English) A flaw in a system or process whereby the output or result is unexpectedly and critically dependent on the sequence or timing of other events.

A race condition or race hazard is the behavior of an electronic, software or other system where the output is dependent on the sequence or timing of other uncontrollable events. It becomes a bug when events do not happen in the order the programmer intended. The term originates with the idea of two signals racing each other to influence the output first.

Race conditions can occur in electronics systems, especially logic circuits, and in computer software, especially multithreaded or distributed programs.