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

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--edu.emory.mathcs.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:

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 Error throws from locking methods.

Since:
1.5
See Also:
Serialized Form

Constructor Summary
ReentrantReadWriteLock()
          Creates a new ReentrantReadWriteLock with default ordering properties.
 
Method Summary
protected  java.lang.Thread getOwner()
          Returns the thread that currently owns the write lock, or null if not owned.
 int getQueueLength()
          Returns an estimate of the number of threads waiting to acquire either the read or write lock.
 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 isFair()
          Returns true 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 ReentrantReadWriteLock with default 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 true if this lock has fairness set true.

Returns:
true if this lock has fairness set true.

getOwner

protected java.lang.Thread getOwner()
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.

Returns:
the owner, or null 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:
true if any thread holds the write lock and false otherwise.

isWriteLockedByCurrentThread

public boolean isWriteLockedByCurrentThread()
Queries if the write lock is held by the current thread.

Returns:
true if the current thread holds the write lock and false 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.

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 "Write locks =" followed by the number of reentrantly held write locks, and the String "Read locks =" followed by the number of held read locks.

Overrides:
toString in class java.lang.Object
Returns:
a string identifying this lock, as well as its lock state.