A race condition occurs when there are two or more processes trying to access the same data concurrently or performing the same operation concurrently. Output of the operation depends on the sequence of requests of the operations.

In networking, a race condition occurs when two or more try to access the same channel. This usually occurs in networks having lag times.

In a computer memory, a race condition occurs when a request to read and write data is received at the same time.

In logic gates, a race condition occurs when some inputs encounter conflicts.