C++ Tutorial => Mutexes

Remarks

It is better to use std::shared_mutex than std::shared_timed_mutex.

The performance difference is more than double.

If you want to use RWLock, you will find that there are two options.
It is std::shared_mutex and shared_timed_mutex.
you may think std::shared_timed_mutex is just the version 'std::shared_mutex + time method'.

But the implementation is totally different.

The code below is MSVC14.1 implementation of std::shared_mutex.

class shared_mutex
{
public: 
typedef _Smtx_t * native_handle_type;

shared_mutex() _NOEXCEPT
    : _Myhandle(0)
    {    // default construct
    }

~shared_mutex() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // destroy the object
    }

void lock() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // lock exclusive
    _Smtx_lock_exclusive(&_Myhandle);
    }

bool try_lock() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // try to lock exclusive
    return (_Smtx_try_lock_exclusive(&_Myhandle) != 0);
    }

void unlock() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // unlock exclusive
    _Smtx_unlock_exclusive(&_Myhandle);
    }

void lock_shared() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // lock non-exclusive
    _Smtx_lock_shared(&_Myhandle);
    }

bool try_lock_shared() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // try to lock non-exclusive
    return (_Smtx_try_lock_shared(&_Myhandle) != 0);
    }

void unlock_shared() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // unlock non-exclusive
    _Smtx_unlock_shared(&_Myhandle);
    }

native_handle_type native_handle() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // get native handle
    return (&_Myhandle);
    }

shared_mutex(const shared_mutex&) = delete;
shared_mutex& operator=(const shared_mutex&) = delete;
private: 
    _Smtx_t _Myhandle;
};

void __cdecl _Smtx_lock_exclusive(_Smtx_t * smtx)
{    /* lock shared mutex exclusively */
AcquireSRWLockExclusive(reinterpret_cast<PSRWLOCK>(smtx));
}

void __cdecl _Smtx_lock_shared(_Smtx_t * smtx)
{    /* lock shared mutex non-exclusively */
AcquireSRWLockShared(reinterpret_cast<PSRWLOCK>(smtx));
}

int __cdecl _Smtx_try_lock_exclusive(_Smtx_t * smtx)
{    /* try to lock shared mutex exclusively */
return (TryAcquireSRWLockExclusive(reinterpret_cast<PSRWLOCK>(smtx)));
}

int __cdecl _Smtx_try_lock_shared(_Smtx_t * smtx)
{    /* try to lock shared mutex non-exclusively */
return (TryAcquireSRWLockShared(reinterpret_cast<PSRWLOCK>(smtx)));
}

void __cdecl _Smtx_unlock_exclusive(_Smtx_t * smtx)
{    /* unlock exclusive shared mutex */
ReleaseSRWLockExclusive(reinterpret_cast<PSRWLOCK>(smtx));
}

void __cdecl _Smtx_unlock_shared(_Smtx_t * smtx)
{    /* unlock non-exclusive shared mutex */
ReleaseSRWLockShared(reinterpret_cast<PSRWLOCK>(smtx));
}

You can see that std::shared_mutex is implemented in Windows Slim Reader/Write Locks(https://msdn.microsoft.com/ko-kr/library/windows/desktop/aa904937(v=vs.85).aspx)

Now Let's look at the implementation of std::shared_timed_mutex.

The code below is MSVC14.1 implementation of std::shared_timed_mutex.

class shared_timed_mutex
{
typedef unsigned int _Read_cnt_t;
static constexpr _Read_cnt_t _Max_readers = _Read_cnt_t(-1);
public:
shared_timed_mutex() _NOEXCEPT
    : _Mymtx(), _Read_queue(), _Write_queue(),
        _Readers(0), _Writing(false)
    {    // default construct
    }

~shared_timed_mutex() _NOEXCEPT
    {    // destroy the object
    }

void lock()
    {    // lock exclusive
    unique_lock<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);
    while (_Writing)
        _Write_queue.wait(_Lock);
    _Writing = true;
    while (0 < _Readers)
        _Read_queue.wait(_Lock);    // wait for writing, no readers
    }

bool try_lock()
    {    // try to lock exclusive
    lock_guard<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);
    if (_Writing || 0 < _Readers)
        return (false);
    else
        {    // set writing, no readers
        _Writing = true;
        return (true);
        }
    }

template<class _Rep,
    class _Period>
    bool try_lock_for(
        const chrono::duration<_Rep, _Period>& _Rel_time)
    {    // try to lock for duration
    return (try_lock_until(chrono::steady_clock::now() + _Rel_time));
    }

template<class _Clock,
    class _Duration>
    bool try_lock_until(
        const chrono::time_point<_Clock, _Duration>& _Abs_time)
    {    // try to lock until time point
    auto _Not_writing = [this] { return (!_Writing); };
    auto _Zero_readers = [this] { return (_Readers == 0); };
    unique_lock<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);

    if (!_Write_queue.wait_until(_Lock, _Abs_time, _Not_writing))
        return (false);

    _Writing = true;

    if (!_Read_queue.wait_until(_Lock, _Abs_time, _Zero_readers))
        {    // timeout, leave writing state
        _Writing = false;
        _Lock.unlock();    // unlock before notifying, for efficiency
        _Write_queue.notify_all();
        return (false);
        }

    return (true);
    }

void unlock()
    {    // unlock exclusive
        {    // unlock before notifying, for efficiency
        lock_guard<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);

        _Writing = false;
        }

    _Write_queue.notify_all();
    }

void lock_shared()
    {    // lock non-exclusive
    unique_lock<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);
    while (_Writing || _Readers == _Max_readers)
        _Write_queue.wait(_Lock);
    ++_Readers;
    }

bool try_lock_shared()
    {    // try to lock non-exclusive
    lock_guard<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);
    if (_Writing || _Readers == _Max_readers)
        return (false);
    else
        {    // count another reader
        ++_Readers;
        return (true);
        }
    }

template<class _Rep,
    class _Period>
    bool try_lock_shared_for(
        const chrono::duration<_Rep, _Period>& _Rel_time)
    {    // try to lock non-exclusive for relative time
    return (try_lock_shared_until(_Rel_time
        + chrono::steady_clock::now()));
    }

template<class _Time>
    bool _Try_lock_shared_until(_Time _Abs_time)
    {    // try to lock non-exclusive until absolute time
    auto _Can_acquire = [this] {
        return (!_Writing && _Readers < _Max_readers); };

    unique_lock<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);

    if (!_Write_queue.wait_until(_Lock, _Abs_time, _Can_acquire))
        return (false);

    ++_Readers;
    return (true);
    }

template<class _Clock,
    class _Duration>
    bool try_lock_shared_until(
        const chrono::time_point<_Clock, _Duration>& _Abs_time)
    {    // try to lock non-exclusive until absolute time
    return (_Try_lock_shared_until(_Abs_time));
    }

bool try_lock_shared_until(const xtime *_Abs_time)
    {    // try to lock non-exclusive until absolute time
    return (_Try_lock_shared_until(_Abs_time));
    }

void unlock_shared()
    {    // unlock non-exclusive
    _Read_cnt_t _Local_readers;
    bool _Local_writing;

        {    // unlock before notifying, for efficiency
        lock_guard<mutex> _Lock(_Mymtx);
        --_Readers;
        _Local_readers = _Readers;
        _Local_writing = _Writing;
        }

    if (_Local_writing && _Local_readers == 0)
        _Read_queue.notify_one();
    else if (!_Local_writing && _Local_readers == _Max_readers - 1)
        _Write_queue.notify_all();
    }

shared_timed_mutex(const shared_timed_mutex&) = delete;
shared_timed_mutex& operator=(const shared_timed_mutex&) = delete;
private:
mutex _Mymtx;
condition_variable _Read_queue, _Write_queue;
_Read_cnt_t _Readers;
bool _Writing;
};

class stl_condition_variable_win7 final : public stl_condition_variable_interface
{
public:
    stl_condition_variable_win7()
    {
        __crtInitializeConditionVariable(&m_condition_variable);
    }

    ~stl_condition_variable_win7() = delete;
    stl_condition_variable_win7(const stl_condition_variable_win7&) = delete;
    stl_condition_variable_win7& operator=(const stl_condition_variable_win7&) = delete;

    virtual void destroy() override {}

    virtual void wait(stl_critical_section_interface *lock) override
    {
        if (!stl_condition_variable_win7::wait_for(lock, INFINITE))
            std::terminate();
    }

    virtual bool wait_for(stl_critical_section_interface *lock, unsigned int timeout) override
    {
        return __crtSleepConditionVariableSRW(&m_condition_variable, static_cast<stl_critical_section_win7 *>(lock)->native_handle(), timeout, 0) != 0;
    }

    virtual void notify_one() override
    {
        __crtWakeConditionVariable(&m_condition_variable);
    }

    virtual void notify_all() override
    {
        __crtWakeAllConditionVariable(&m_condition_variable);
    }

private:
    CONDITION_VARIABLE m_condition_variable;
};

You can see that std::shared_timed_mutex is implemented in std::condition_value.

This is a huge difference.

So Let's check the performance of two of them.

This is the result of read/write test for 1000 millisecond.

std::shared_mutex processed read/write over 2 times more than std::shared_timed_mutex.

In this example, the read / write ratio is the same, but the read rate is more frequent than the write rate in real.
Therefore, the performance difference can be larger.

the code below is the code in this example.

void useSTLSharedMutex()
{
    std::shared_mutex shared_mtx_lock;

    std::vector<std::thread> readThreads;
    std::vector<std::thread> writeThreads;

    std::list<int> data = { 0 };
    volatile bool exit = false;

    std::atomic<int> readProcessedCnt(0);
    std::atomic<int> writeProcessedCnt(0);

    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < std::thread::hardware_concurrency(); i++)
    {

        readThreads.push_back(std::thread([&data, &exit, &shared_mtx_lock, &readProcessedCnt]() {
            std::list<int> mydata;
            int localProcessCnt = 0;

            while (true)
            {
                shared_mtx_lock.lock_shared();

                mydata.push_back(data.back());
                ++localProcessCnt;

                shared_mtx_lock.unlock_shared();

                if (exit)
                    break;
            }

            std::atomic_fetch_add(&readProcessedCnt, localProcessCnt);

        }));

        writeThreads.push_back(std::thread([&data, &exit, &shared_mtx_lock, &writeProcessedCnt]() {

            int localProcessCnt = 0;

            while (true)
            {
                shared_mtx_lock.lock();

                data.push_back(rand() % 100);
                ++localProcessCnt;

                shared_mtx_lock.unlock();

                if (exit)
                    break;
            }

            std::atomic_fetch_add(&writeProcessedCnt, localProcessCnt);

        }));
    }

    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(MAIN_WAIT_MILLISECONDS));
    exit = true;

    for (auto &r : readThreads)
        r.join();

    for (auto &w : writeThreads)
        w.join();

    std::cout << "STLSharedMutex READ :           " << readProcessedCnt << std::endl;
    std::cout << "STLSharedMutex WRITE :          " << writeProcessedCnt << std::endl;
    std::cout << "TOTAL READ&WRITE :              " << readProcessedCnt + writeProcessedCnt << std::endl << std::endl;
}

void useSTLSharedTimedMutex()
{
    std::shared_timed_mutex shared_mtx_lock;

    std::vector<std::thread> readThreads;
    std::vector<std::thread> writeThreads;

    std::list<int> data = { 0 };
    volatile bool exit = false;

    std::atomic<int> readProcessedCnt(0);
    std::atomic<int> writeProcessedCnt(0);

    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < std::thread::hardware_concurrency(); i++)
    {

        readThreads.push_back(std::thread([&data, &exit, &shared_mtx_lock, &readProcessedCnt]() {
            std::list<int> mydata;
            int localProcessCnt = 0;

            while (true)
            {
                shared_mtx_lock.lock_shared();

                mydata.push_back(data.back());
                ++localProcessCnt;

                shared_mtx_lock.unlock_shared();

                if (exit)
                    break;
            }

            std::atomic_fetch_add(&readProcessedCnt, localProcessCnt);

        }));

        writeThreads.push_back(std::thread([&data, &exit, &shared_mtx_lock, &writeProcessedCnt]() {

            int localProcessCnt = 0;

            while (true)
            {
                shared_mtx_lock.lock();

                data.push_back(rand() % 100);
                ++localProcessCnt;

                shared_mtx_lock.unlock();

                if (exit)
                    break;
            }

            std::atomic_fetch_add(&writeProcessedCnt, localProcessCnt);

        }));
    }

    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(MAIN_WAIT_MILLISECONDS));
    exit = true;

    for (auto &r : readThreads)
        r.join();

    for (auto &w : writeThreads)
        w.join();

    std::cout << "STLSharedTimedMutex READ :      " << readProcessedCnt << std::endl;
    std::cout << "STLSharedTimedMutex WRITE :     " << writeProcessedCnt << std::endl;
    std::cout << "TOTAL READ&WRITE :              " << readProcessedCnt + writeProcessedCnt << std::endl << std::endl;
}

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Remarks

It is better to use std::shared_mutex than std::shared_timed_mutex.

The code below is MSVC14.1 implementation of std::shared_mutex.

The code below is MSVC14.1 implementation of std::shared_timed_mutex.

std::shared_mutex processed read/write over 2 times more than std::shared_timed_mutex.

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C++ Mutexes

Fastest Entity Framework Extensions

Remarks

It is better to use std::shared_mutex than std::shared_timed_mutex.

The code below is MSVC14.1 implementation of std::shared_mutex.

The code below is MSVC14.1 implementation of std::shared_timed_mutex.

std::shared_mutex processed read/write over 2 times more than std::shared_timed_mutex.

Mutexes Related Examples

Got any C++ Question?