Mutex uses a locking mechanism i.e. if a process wants to use a resource then it locks the resource, uses it and then release it. But on the other hand, semaphore uses a signalling mechanism where wait() and signal() methods are used to show if a process is releasing a resource or taking a resource. A mutex is an object but semaphore is an integer variable. In semaphore, we have wait() and signal() functions. But in mutex, there is no such function. A mutex object allows multiple process threads to access a single shared resource but only one at a time. On the other hand, semaphore allows multiple process threads to access the finite instance of the resource until available. In mutex, the lock can be acquired and released by the same process at a time. But the value of the semaphore variable can be modified by any process that needs some resource but only one process can change the value at a time.

一本有用的书，我从这里学习和复制

除了互斥对象有一个所有者之外，这两个对象还可以针对不同的用途进行优化。互斥锁被设计为只保留很短的时间;违反这一点会导致糟糕的性能和不公平的调度。例如，一个正在运行的线程可能被允许获取一个互斥量，即使另一个线程已经被阻塞在这个线程上。信号量可以提供更多的公平性，或者可以使用几个条件变量强制实现公平性。

http://www.geeksforgeeks.org/archives/9102将详细讨论。

互斥是一种锁机制，用于同步对资源的访问。 信号量是一种信号机制。

如果他/她想使用二进制信号量来代替互斥量，这取决于程序员。

既然上面的答案都不能消除困惑，这里有一个答案可以消除我的困惑。

Strictly speaking, a mutex is a locking mechanism used to synchronize access to a resource. Only one task (can be a thread or process based on OS abstraction) can acquire the mutex. It means there will be ownership associated with mutex, and only the owner can release the lock (mutex). Semaphore is signaling mechanism (“I am done, you can carry on” kind of signal). For example, if you are listening songs (assume it as one task) on your mobile and at the same time your friend called you, an interrupt will be triggered upon which an interrupt service routine (ISR) will signal the call processing task to wakeup.

来源:http://www.geeksforgeeks.org/mutex-vs-semaphore/

它们不是一回事。它们有不同的用途! 虽然这两种类型的信号量都有一个满/空状态，并且使用相同的API，但它们的用法非常不同。

互斥信号量 互斥信号量用于保护共享资源(数据结构、文件等)。

互斥信号量由接收它的任务“拥有”。如果Task B尝试semGive一个当前由Task a持有的互斥锁，Task B的调用将返回一个错误并失败。

互斥对象总是使用以下顺序:

  - SemTake
  - Critical Section
  - SemGive

这里有一个简单的例子:

  Thread A                     Thread B
   Take Mutex
     access data
     ...                        Take Mutex  <== Will block
     ...
   Give Mutex                     access data  <== Unblocks
                                  ...
                                Give Mutex

二进制信号量 二进制信号量解决了一个完全不同的问题:

任务B被挂起等待某些事情发生(例如传感器被绊倒)。 传感器跳闸和中断服务程序运行。它需要通知任务的行程。 任务B应运行并对传感器跳闸采取适当的操作。然后继续等待。

   Task A                      Task B
   ...                         Take BinSemaphore   <== wait for something
   Do Something Noteworthy
   Give BinSemaphore           do something    <== unblocks

注意，对于二进制信号量，B获取信号量，a给出信号量是可以的。 同样，二进制信号量不能保护资源不被访问。信号量的给予和获取从根本上是分离的。 对于同一个任务来说，对同一个二进制信号量的给予和获取通常没有什么意义。

I think most of the answers here were confusing especially those saying that mutex can be released only by the process that holds it but semaphore can be signaled by ay process. The above line is kind of vague in terms of semaphore. To understand we should know that there are two kinds of semaphore one is called counting semaphore and the other is called a binary semaphore. In counting semaphore handles access to n number of resources where n can be defined before the use. Each semaphore has a count variable, which keeps the count of the number of resources in use, initially, it is set to n. Each process that wishes to uses a resource performs a wait() operation on the semaphore (thereby decrementing the count). When a process releases a resource, it performs a release() operation (incrementing the count). When the count becomes 0, all the resources are being used. After that, the process waits until the count becomes more than 0. Now here is the catch only the process that holds the resource can increase the count no other process can increase the count only the processes holding a resource can increase the count and the process waiting for the semaphore again checks and when it sees the resource available it decreases the count again. So in terms of binary semaphore, only the process holding the semaphore can increase the count, and count remains zero until it stops using the semaphore and increases the count and other process gets the chance to access the semaphore.

二进制信号量和互斥量之间的主要区别在于，信号量是一种信号机制，而互斥量是一种锁定机制，但二进制信号量的功能似乎与互斥量类似，这造成了混乱，但两者是适用于不同类型工作的不同概念。