In Java, a semaphore is basically a lock with an attached counter. It is similar to the Lock interface as it can also be used to prevent access if the lock is granted; the difference is the counter. In those terms, a semaphore with a counter of one is the same thing as a lock (except that the semaphore would not nest, whereas the lock--depending on its implementation--might).
The Semaphore class keeps tracks of the number of permits it can issue. It allows multiple threads to grab one or more permits; the actual usage of the permits is up to the developer. Therefore, a semaphore can be used to represent the number of locks that can be granted. It could also be used to throttle the number of threads working in parallel, due to resource limitations such as network connections or disk space.
Let's take a look at the Semaphoreinterface:
public class Semaphore {
public Semaphore(long permits);
