> Lock free algorithms are generally better when the odds of contention are high, as you can devise algorithms that allow all threads to make progress at the sa

> Lock free algorithms are generally better when the odds of contention are high, as you can devise algorithms that allow all threads to make progress at the same time. In general, this allows more parallelism, but the cost is that it typically requires more overall atomic operations. I can't say I agree here. It really depends on the cost of the swap operation required to make this work. Consider a lock-free map for example. Under high contention, I'd prefer to wait for a lock than copy the map while spinning on an atomic. What would push the needle for me one way or another (with respect to locking vs lockless) is a blend between the probability of contention, the cost of the loop itself, and the cost of the swap.