[multithreading] What is a semaphore?

I've created the visualization which should help to understand the idea. Semaphore controls access to a common resource in a multithreading environment. enter image description here

ExecutorService executor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(7);

Semaphore semaphore = new Semaphore(4);

Runnable longRunningTask = () -> {
    boolean permit = false;
    try {
        permit = semaphore.tryAcquire(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
        if (permit) {
            System.out.println("Semaphore acquired");
            Thread.sleep(5);
        } else {
            System.out.println("Could not acquire semaphore");
        }
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
        throw new IllegalStateException(e);
    } finally {
        if (permit) {
            semaphore.release();
        }
    }
};

// execute tasks
for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
    executor.submit(longRunningTask);
}
executor.shutdown();

Output

Semaphore acquired
Semaphore acquired
Semaphore acquired
Semaphore acquired
Could not acquire semaphore
Could not acquire semaphore
Could not acquire semaphore

Sample code from the article

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