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ReentrantReadWriteLock.javaAPI DocJava SE 5 API44039Fri Aug 26 14:57:26 BST 2005java.util.concurrent.locks

ReentrantReadWriteLock

public class ReentrantReadWriteLock extends Object implements ReadWriteLock, Serializable
An implementation of {@link ReadWriteLock} supporting similar semantics to {@link ReentrantLock}.

This class has the following properties:

  • Acquisition order

    This class does not impose a reader or writer preference ordering for lock access. However, it does support an optional fairness policy. When constructed as fair, threads contend for entry using an approximately arrival-order policy. When the write lock is released either the longest-waiting single writer will be assigned the write lock, or if there is a reader waiting longer than any writer, the set of readers will be assigned the read lock. When constructed as non-fair, the order of entry to the lock need not be in arrival order. In either case, if readers are active and a writer enters the lock then no subsequent readers will be granted the read lock until after that writer has acquired and released the write lock.

  • Reentrancy

    This lock allows both readers and writers to reacquire read or write locks in the style of a {@link ReentrantLock}. 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.

  • {@link Condition} support

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

    The read lock does not support a {@link Condition} and readLock().newCondition() throws UnsupportedOperationException.

  • 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) {
// upgrade lock manually
rwl.readLock().unlock(); // must unlock first to obtain writelock
rwl.writeLock().lock();
if (!cacheValid) { // recheck
data = ...
cacheValid = true;
}
// downgrade lock
rwl.readLock().lock(); // reacquire read without giving up write 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.
class RWDictionary {
private final Map<String, Data> m = new TreeMap<String, Data>();
private final ReentrantReadWriteLock rwl = new ReentrantReadWriteLock();
private final Lock r = rwl.readLock();
private final Lock w = rwl.writeLock();

public Data get(String key) {
r.lock(); try { return m.get(key); } 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

A reentrant write lock intrinsically defines an owner and can only be released by the thread that acquired it. In contrast, in this implementation, the read lock has no concept of ownership, and there is no requirement that the thread releasing a read lock is the same as the one that acquired it. However, this property is not guaranteed to hold in future implementations of this class.

This lock supports a maximum of 65536 recursive write locks and 65536 read locks. Attempts to exceed these limits result in {@link Error} throws from locking methods.

since
1.5
author
Doug Lea

Fields Summary
private static final long
serialVersionUID
private final ReadLock
readerLock
Inner class providing readlock
private final WriteLock
writerLock
Inner class providing writelock
private final Sync
sync
Performs all synchronization mechanics
static final int
SHARED_SHIFT
static final int
SHARED_UNIT
static final int
EXCLUSIVE_MASK
Constructors Summary
public ReentrantReadWriteLock()
Creates a new ReentrantReadWriteLock with default ordering properties.


                 
      
        sync = new NonfairSync();
        readerLock = new ReadLock(this);
        writerLock = new WriteLock(this);
    
public ReentrantReadWriteLock(boolean fair)
Creates a new ReentrantReadWriteLock with the given fairness policy.

param
fair true if this lock should use a fair ordering policy

        sync = (fair)? new FairSync() : new NonfairSync();
        readerLock = new ReadLock(this);
        writerLock = new WriteLock(this);
    
Methods Summary
static intexclusiveCount(int c)
Returns the number of exclusive holds represented in count

 return c & EXCLUSIVE_MASK; 
protected java.lang.ThreadgetOwner()
Returns the thread that currently owns the write lock, or null if not owned. Note that the owner may be momentarily null 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.

return
the owner, or null if not owned.

        return sync.getOwner();
    
public final intgetQueueLength()
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.

return
the estimated number of threads waiting for this lock

        return sync.getQueueLength();
    
protected java.util.CollectiongetQueuedReaderThreads()
Returns a collection containing threads that may be waiting to acquire the read lock. Because the actual set of threads may change dynamically while constructing this result, the returned collection is only a best-effort estimate. The elements of the returned collection are in no particular order. This method is designed to facilitate construction of subclasses that provide more extensive lock monitoring facilities.

return
the collection of threads

        return sync.getSharedQueuedThreads();
    
protected java.util.CollectiongetQueuedThreads()
Returns a collection containing threads that may be waiting to acquire either the read or write lock. Because the actual set of threads may change dynamically while constructing this result, the returned collection is only a best-effort estimate. The elements of the returned collection are in no particular order. This method is designed to facilitate construction of subclasses that provide more extensive monitoring facilities.

return
the collection of threads

        return sync.getQueuedThreads();
    
protected java.util.CollectiongetQueuedWriterThreads()
Returns a collection containing threads that may be waiting to acquire the write lock. Because the actual set of threads may change dynamically while constructing this result, the returned collection is only a best-effort estimate. The elements of the returned collection are in no particular order. This method is designed to facilitate construction of subclasses that provide more extensive lock monitoring facilities.

return
the collection of threads

        return sync.getExclusiveQueuedThreads();
    
public intgetReadLockCount()
Queries the number of read locks held for this lock. This method is designed for use in monitoring system state, not for synchronization control.

return
the number of read locks held.

        return sync.getReadLockCount();
    
public intgetWaitQueueLength(java.util.concurrent.locks.Condition condition)
Returns an estimate of the number of threads waiting on the given condition associated with the write lock. Note that because timeouts and interrupts may occur at any time, the estimate serves only as an upper bound on the actual number of waiters. This method is designed for use in monitoring of the system state, not for synchronization control.

param
condition the condition
return
the estimated number of waiting threads.
throws
IllegalMonitorStateException if this lock is not held
throws
IllegalArgumentException if the given condition is not associated with this lock
throws
NullPointerException if condition null

        if (condition == null)
            throw new NullPointerException();
        if (!(condition instanceof AbstractQueuedSynchronizer.ConditionObject))
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("not owner");
        return sync.getWaitQueueLength((AbstractQueuedSynchronizer.ConditionObject)condition);
    
protected java.util.CollectiongetWaitingThreads(java.util.concurrent.locks.Condition condition)
Returns a collection containing those threads that may be waiting on the given condition associated with the write lock. Because the actual set of threads may change dynamically while constructing this result, the returned collection is only a best-effort estimate. The elements of the returned collection are in no particular order. This method is designed to facilitate construction of subclasses that provide more extensive condition monitoring facilities.

param
condition the condition
return
the collection of threads
throws
IllegalMonitorStateException if this lock is not held
throws
IllegalArgumentException if the given condition is not associated with this lock
throws
NullPointerException if condition null

        if (condition == null)
            throw new NullPointerException();
        if (!(condition instanceof AbstractQueuedSynchronizer.ConditionObject))
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("not owner");
        return sync.getWaitingThreads((AbstractQueuedSynchronizer.ConditionObject)condition);
    
public intgetWriteHoldCount()
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.

return
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.

        return sync.getWriteHoldCount();
    
public final booleanhasQueuedThread(java.lang.Thread thread)
Queries whether the given thread is waiting to acquire either the read or write lock. Note that because cancellations may occur at any time, a true return does not guarantee that this thread will ever acquire a lock. This method is designed primarily for use in monitoring of the system state.

param
thread the thread
return
true if the given thread is queued waiting for this lock.
throws
NullPointerException if thread is null

 
        return sync.isQueued(thread);
    
public final booleanhasQueuedThreads()
Queries whether any threads are waiting to acquire the read or write lock. Note that because cancellations may occur at any time, a true 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.

return
true if there may be other threads waiting to acquire the lock.

 
        return sync.hasQueuedThreads();
    
public booleanhasWaiters(java.util.concurrent.locks.Condition condition)
Queries whether any threads are waiting on the given condition associated with the write lock. Note that because timeouts and interrupts may occur at any time, a true return does not guarantee that a future signal will awaken any threads. This method is designed primarily for use in monitoring of the system state.

param
condition the condition
return
true if there are any waiting threads.
throws
IllegalMonitorStateException if this lock is not held
throws
IllegalArgumentException if the given condition is not associated with this lock
throws
NullPointerException if condition null

        if (condition == null)
            throw new NullPointerException();
        if (!(condition instanceof AbstractQueuedSynchronizer.ConditionObject))
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("not owner");
        return sync.hasWaiters((AbstractQueuedSynchronizer.ConditionObject)condition);
    
public final booleanisFair()
Returns true if this lock has fairness set true.

return
true if this lock has fairness set true.

        return sync instanceof FairSync;
    
public booleanisWriteLocked()
Queries if the write lock is held by any thread. This method is designed for use in monitoring system state, not for synchronization control.

return
true if any thread holds the write lock and false otherwise.

        return sync.isWriteLocked();
    
public booleanisWriteLockedByCurrentThread()
Queries if the write lock is held by the current thread.

return
true if the current thread holds the write lock and false otherwise.

        return sync.isHeldExclusively();
    
public java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock$ReadLockreadLock()

 return readerLock; 
static intsharedCount(int c)
Returns the number of shared holds represented in count

    
               
            return c >>> SHARED_SHIFT; 
public java.lang.StringtoString()
Returns a string identifying this lock, as well as its lock state. The state, in brackets, includes the String "Write locks =" followed by the number of reentrantly held write locks, and the String "Read locks =" followed by the number of held read locks.

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

        int c = sync.getCount();
        int w = exclusiveCount(c);
        int r = sharedCount(c);
        
        return super.toString() + 
            "[Write locks = " + w + ", Read locks = " + r + "]";
    
public java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock$WriteLockwriteLock()

 return writerLock;