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;
}

std::unique_lock, std::shared_lock, std::lock_guard

Used for the RAII style acquiring of try locks, timed try locks and recursive locks.

std::unique_lock allows for exclusive ownership of mutexes.

std::shared_lock allows for shared ownership of mutexes. Several threads can hold std::shared_locks on a std::shared_mutex. Available from C++ 14.

std::lock_guard is a lightweight alternative to std::unique_lock and std::shared_lock.

#include <unordered_map>
#include <mutex>
#include <shared_mutex>
#include <thread>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>

class PhoneBook {
public:
    std::string getPhoneNo( const std::string & name )
    {
        std::shared_lock<std::shared_timed_mutex> l(_protect);
        auto it =  _phonebook.find( name );
        if ( it != _phonebook.end() )
            return (*it).second;
        return "";
    }
    void addPhoneNo ( const std::string & name, const std::string & phone )
    {
        std::unique_lock<std::shared_timed_mutex> l(_protect);
        _phonebook[name] = phone;
    }
    
    std::shared_timed_mutex _protect;
    std::unordered_map<std::string,std::string>  _phonebook;
};

Strategies for lock classes: std::try_to_lock, std::adopt_lock, std::defer_lock

When creating a std::unique_lock, there are three different locking strategies to choose from: std::try_to_lock, std::defer_lock and std::adopt_lock

std::try_to_lock allows for trying a lock without blocking:

{ std::atomic_int temp {0}; std::mutex _mutex;

std::thread t( [&](){
    
    while( temp!= -1){
        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(5));
        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock( _mutex, std::try_to_lock);
        
        if(lock.owns_lock()){
            //do something
            temp=0;
        }
    }
});

while ( true )
{
    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock( _mutex, std::try_to_lock);
    if(lock.owns_lock()){
        if (temp < INT_MAX){
            ++temp;
        }
        std::cout << temp << std::endl;
    }
}

}

std::defer_lock allows for creating a lock structure without acquiring the lock. When locking more than one mutex, there is a window of

opportunity for a deadlock if two function callers try to acquire the locks at the same time:

{
    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock1(_mutex1, std::defer_lock);
    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock2(_mutex2, std::defer_lock);
    lock1.lock()
    lock2.lock(); // deadlock here
    std::cout << "Locked! << std::endl;
    //...
}

With the following code, whatever happens in the function, the locks are acquired and released in appropriate order:

   {
       std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock1(_mutex1, std::defer_lock);
       std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock2(_mutex2, std::defer_lock);
       std::lock(lock1,lock2); // no deadlock possible
       std::cout << "Locked! << std::endl;
       //...
       
   }

std::adopt_lock does not attempt to lock a second time if the calling thread currently owns the lock.

{ std::unique_lockstd::mutex lock1(_mutex1, std::adopt_lock); std::unique_lockstd::mutex lock2(_mutex2, std::adopt_lock); std::cout << “Locked! << std::endl; //… }

Something to keep in mind is that std::adopt_lock is not a substitute for recursive mutex usage. When the lock goes out of scope the mutex is released.

std::mutex

std::mutex is a simple, non-recursive synchronization structure that is used to protect data which is accessed by multiple threads.

    std::atomic_int temp{0};
    std::mutex _mutex;
    
    std::thread t( [&](){
                      
                      while( temp!= -1){
                          std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(5));
                          std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock( _mutex);
                          
                              temp=0;
                      }
                  });
    
    
    while ( true )
    {
        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(1));
        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock( _mutex, std::try_to_lock);
        if ( temp < INT_MAX )
            temp++;
        cout << temp << endl;
        
    }

std::scoped_lock (C++ 17)

std::scoped_lock provides RAII style semantics for owning one more mutexes, combined with the lock avoidance algorithms used by std::lock. When std::scoped_lock is destroyed, mutexes are released in the reverse order from which they where acquired.

{
    std::scoped_lock lock{_mutex1,_mutex2};
    //do something
}

Mutex Types

C++1x offers a selection of mutex classes:

std::mutex - offers simple locking functionality.
std::timed_mutex - offers try_to_lock functionality
std::recursive_mutex - allows recursive locking by the same thread.
std::shared_mutex, std::shared_timed_mutex - offers shared and unique lock functionality.

std::lock

std::lock uses deadlock avoidance algorithms to lock one or more mutexes. If an exception is thrown during a call to lock multiple objects, std::lock unlocks the successfully locked objects before re-throwing the exception.

std::lock(_mutex1, _mutex2);