edu.emory.mathcs.backport.java.util.concurrent.locks
Class ReentrantReadWriteLock

java.lang.Object
  edu.emory.mathcs.backport.java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock

All Implemented Interfaces:

ReadWriteLock, java.io.Serializable

public class ReentrantReadWriteLock

extends java.lang.Object

implements ReadWriteLock, java.io.Serializable

An implementation of ReadWriteLock supporting similar semantics to ReentrantLock.

This class has the following properties:

• Acquisition order

  The order of entry to the read and write lock is unspecified, subject to reentrancy constraints. A nonfair lock that is continously contended may indefinitely postpone one or more reader or writer threads, but will normally have higher throughput than a fair lock.

  DEPARTURE FROM java.util.concurrent: this implementation impose a writer-preferrence and thus its acquisition order may be different than in java.util.concurrent.

• Reentrancy

  This lock allows both readers and writers to reacquire read or write locks in the style of a ReentrantLock. Non-reentrant readers are not allowed until all write locks held by the writing thread have been released.

  Additionally, a writer can acquire the read lock, but not vice-versa. Among other applications, reentrancy can be useful when write locks are held during calls or callbacks to methods that perform reads under read locks. If a reader tries to acquire the write lock it will never succeed.

• Lock downgrading

  Reentrancy also allows downgrading from the write lock to a read lock, by acquiring the write lock, then the read lock and then releasing the write lock. However, upgrading from a read lock to the write lock is not possible.

• Interruption of lock acquisition

  The read lock and write lock both support interruption during lock acquisition.

• Condition support

  The write lock provides a Condition implementation that behaves in the same way, with respect to the write lock, as the Condition implementation provided by ReentrantLock.newCondition() does for ReentrantLock. This Condition can, of course, only be used with the write lock.

  The read lock does not support a Condition and throws .

• Instrumentation

  This class supports methods to determine whether locks are held or contended. These methods are designed for monitoring system state, not for synchronization control.

Serialization of this class behaves in the same way as built-in locks: a deserialized lock is in the unlocked state, regardless of its state when serialized.

Sample usages. Here is a code sketch showing how to exploit reentrancy to perform lock downgrading after updating a cache (exception handling is elided for simplicity):

 class CachedData {
   Object data;
   volatile boolean cacheValid;
   ReentrantReadWriteLock rwl = new ReentrantReadWriteLock();

   void processCachedData() {
     rwl.readLock().lock();
     if (!cacheValid) {
        // Must release read lock before acquiring write lock
        rwl.readLock().unlock();
        rwl.writeLock().lock();
        // Recheck state because another thread might have acquired
        //   write lock and changed state before we did.
        if (!cacheValid) {
          data = ...
          cacheValid = true;
        }
        // Downgrade by acquiring read lock before releasing write lock
        rwl.readLock().lock();
        rwl.writeLock().unlock(); // Unlock write, still hold read
     }

     use(data);
     rwl.readLock().unlock();
   }
 }
 

ReentrantReadWriteLocks can be used to improve concurrency in some uses of some kinds of Collections. This is typically worthwhile only when the collections are expected to be large, accessed by more reader threads than writer threads, and entail operations with overhead that outweighs synchronization overhead. For example, here is a class using a TreeMap that is expected to be large and concurrently accessed.

        finally { r.unlock(); }
    }
    public String[] allKeys() {
        r.lock();
        try { return m.keySet().toArray(); }
        finally { r.unlock(); }
    }
    public Data put(String key, Data value) {
        w.lock();
        try { return m.put(key, value); }
        finally { w.unlock(); }
    }
    public void clear() {
        w.lock();
        try { m.clear(); }
        finally { w.unlock(); }
    }
 }}

Implementation Notes

This lock supports a maximum of 65535 recursive write locks and 65535 read locks. Attempts to exceed these limits result in Error throws from locking methods.

Since:

1.5

Author:

Doug Lea

See Also:

Serialized Form

Nested Class Summary

static class	ReentrantReadWriteLock.ReadLock The lock returned by method readLock().
static class	ReentrantReadWriteLock.WriteLock The lock returned by method writeLock().

Constructor Summary

ReentrantReadWriteLock()
Creates a new with default (nonfair) ordering properties.

Method Summary

protected java.lang.Thread	getOwner() Returns the thread that currently owns the write lock, or if not owned.
int	getQueueLength() Returns an estimate of the number of threads waiting to acquire either the read or write lock.
int	getReadHoldCount() Queries the number of reentrant read holds on this lock by the current thread.
int	getReadLockCount() Queries the number of read locks held for this lock.
int	getWriteHoldCount() Queries the number of reentrant write holds on this lock by the current thread.
boolean	hasQueuedThreads() Queries whether any threads are waiting to acquire the read or write lock.
boolean	isFair() Returns if this lock has fairness set true.
boolean	isWriteLocked() Queries if the write lock is held by any thread.
boolean	isWriteLockedByCurrentThread() Queries if the write lock is held by the current thread.
Lock	readLock() Returns the lock used for reading.
java.lang.String	toString() Returns a string identifying this lock, as well as its lock state.
Lock	writeLock() Returns the lock used for writing.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

ReentrantReadWriteLock

public ReentrantReadWriteLock()

Creates a new with default (nonfair) ordering properties.

Method Detail

writeLock

public Lock writeLock()

Description copied from interface: ReadWriteLock

Returns the lock used for writing.

Specified by:

writeLock in interface ReadWriteLock

Returns:

the lock used for writing.

readLock

public Lock readLock()

Description copied from interface: ReadWriteLock

Returns the lock used for reading.

Specified by:

readLock in interface ReadWriteLock

Returns:

the lock used for reading.

isFair

public final boolean isFair()

Returns if this lock has fairness set true.

Returns:

if this lock has fairness set true

getOwner

protected java.lang.Thread getOwner()

Returns the thread that currently owns the write lock, or if not owned. When this method is called by a thread that is not the owner, the return value reflects a best-effort approximation of current lock status. For example, the owner may be momentarily even if there are threads trying to acquire the lock but have not yet done so. This method is designed to facilitate construction of subclasses that provide more extensive lock monitoring facilities.

Returns:

the owner, or if not owned

getReadLockCount

public int getReadLockCount()

Queries the number of read locks held for this lock. This method is designed for use in monitoring system state, not for synchronization control.

Returns:

the number of read locks held.

isWriteLocked

public boolean isWriteLocked()

Queries if the write lock is held by any thread. This method is designed for use in monitoring system state, not for synchronization control.

Returns:

if any thread holds the write lock and otherwise

isWriteLockedByCurrentThread

public boolean isWriteLockedByCurrentThread()

Queries if the write lock is held by the current thread.

Returns:

if the current thread holds the write lock and otherwise

getWriteHoldCount

public int getWriteHoldCount()

Queries the number of reentrant write holds on this lock by the current thread. A writer thread has a hold on a lock for each lock action that is not matched by an unlock action.

Returns:

the number of holds on the write lock by the current thread, or zero if the write lock is not held by the current thread

getReadHoldCount

public int getReadHoldCount()

Queries the number of reentrant read holds on this lock by the current thread. A reader thread has a hold on a lock for each lock action that is not matched by an unlock action.

Returns:

the number of holds on the read lock by the current thread, or zero if the read lock is not held by the current thread

Since:

1.6

hasQueuedThreads

public final boolean hasQueuedThreads()

Queries whether any threads are waiting to acquire the read or write lock. Note that because cancellations may occur at any time, a return does not guarantee that any other thread will ever acquire a lock. This method is designed primarily for use in monitoring of the system state.

Returns:

if there may be other threads waiting to acquire the lock

getQueueLength

public final int getQueueLength()

Returns an estimate of the number of threads waiting to acquire either the read or write lock. The value is only an estimate because the number of threads may change dynamically while this method traverses internal data structures. This method is designed for use in monitoring of the system state, not for synchronization control.

Returns:

the estimated number of threads waiting for this lock

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

Returns a string identifying this lock, as well as its lock state. The state, in brackets, includes the String followed by the number of reentrantly held write locks, and the String followed by the number of held read locks.

Returns:

a string identifying this lock, as well as its lock state