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1 // This module provides a relatively simple thread-safe pool of reusable
2 // objects. For the most part, it's implemented by a stack represented by a
3 // Mutex<Vec<T>>. It has one small trick: because unlocking a mutex is somewhat
4 // costly, in the case where a pool is accessed by the first thread that tried
5 // to get a value, we bypass the mutex. Here are some benchmarks showing the
6 // difference.
7 //
8 // 1) misc::anchored_literal_long_non_match    21 (18571 MB/s)
9 // 2) misc::anchored_literal_long_non_match   107 (3644 MB/s)
10 // 3) misc::anchored_literal_long_non_match    45 (8666 MB/s)
11 // 4) misc::anchored_literal_long_non_match    19 (20526 MB/s)
12 //
13 // (1) represents our baseline: the master branch at the time of writing when
14 // using the 'thread_local' crate to implement the pool below.
15 //
16 // (2) represents a naive pool implemented completely via Mutex<Vec<T>>. There
17 // is no special trick for bypassing the mutex.
18 //
19 // (3) is the same as (2), except it uses Mutex<Vec<Box<T>>>. It is twice as
20 // fast because a Box<T> is much smaller than the T we use with a Pool in this
21 // crate. So pushing and popping a Box<T> from a Vec is quite a bit faster
22 // than for T.
23 //
24 // (4) is the same as (3), but with the trick for bypassing the mutex in the
25 // case of the first-to-get thread.
26 //
27 // Why move off of thread_local? Even though (4) is a hair faster than (1)
28 // above, this was not the main goal. The main goal was to move off of
29 // thread_local and find a way to *simply* re-capture some of its speed for
30 // regex's specific case. So again, why move off of it? The *primary* reason is
31 // because of memory leaks. See https://github.com/rust-lang/regex/issues/362
32 // for example. (Why do I want it to be simple? Well, I suppose what I mean is,
33 // "use as much safe code as possible to minimize risk and be as sure as I can
34 // be that it is correct.")
35 //
36 // My guess is that the thread_local design is probably not appropriate for
37 // regex since its memory usage scales to the number of active threads that
38 // have used a regex, where as the pool below scales to the number of threads
39 // that simultaneously use a regex. While neither case permits contraction,
40 // since we own the pool data structure below, we can add contraction if a
41 // clear use case pops up in the wild. More pressingly though, it seems that
42 // there are at least some use case patterns where one might have many threads
43 // sitting around that might have used a regex at one point. While thread_local
44 // does try to reuse space previously used by a thread that has since stopped,
45 // its maximal memory usage still scales with the total number of active
46 // threads. In contrast, the pool below scales with the total number of threads
47 // *simultaneously* using the pool. The hope is that this uses less memory
48 // overall. And if it doesn't, we can hopefully tune it somehow.
49 //
50 // It seems that these sort of conditions happen frequently
51 // in FFI inside of other more "managed" languages. This was
52 // mentioned in the issue linked above, and also mentioned here:
53 // https://github.com/BurntSushi/rure-go/issues/3. And in particular, users
54 // confirm that disabling the use of thread_local resolves the leak.
55 //
56 // There were other weaker reasons for moving off of thread_local as well.
57 // Namely, at the time, I was looking to reduce dependencies. And for something
58 // like regex, maintenance can be simpler when we own the full dependency tree.
59 
60 use std::panic::{RefUnwindSafe, UnwindSafe};
61 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering};
62 use std::sync::Mutex;
63 
64 /// An atomic counter used to allocate thread IDs.
65 static COUNTER: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(1);
66 
67 thread_local!(
68     /// A thread local used to assign an ID to a thread.
69     static THREAD_ID: usize = {
70         let next = COUNTER.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
71         // SAFETY: We cannot permit the reuse of thread IDs since reusing a
72         // thread ID might result in more than one thread "owning" a pool,
73         // and thus, permit accessing a mutable value from multiple threads
74         // simultaneously without synchronization. The intent of this panic is
75         // to be a sanity check. It is not expected that the thread ID space
76         // will actually be exhausted in practice.
77         //
78         // This checks that the counter never wraps around, since atomic
79         // addition wraps around on overflow.
80         if next == 0 {
81             panic!("regex: thread ID allocation space exhausted");
82         }
83         next
84     };
85 );
86 
87 /// The type of the function used to create values in a pool when the pool is
88 /// empty and the caller requests one.
89 type CreateFn<T> =
90     Box<dyn Fn() -> T + Send + Sync + UnwindSafe + RefUnwindSafe + 'static>;
91 
92 /// A simple thread safe pool for reusing values.
93 ///
94 /// Getting a value out comes with a guard. When that guard is dropped, the
95 /// value is automatically put back in the pool.
96 ///
97 /// A Pool<T> impls Sync when T is Send (even if it's not Sync). This means
98 /// that T can use interior mutability. This is possible because a pool is
99 /// guaranteed to provide a value to exactly one thread at any time.
100 ///
101 /// Currently, a pool never contracts in size. Its size is proportional to the
102 /// number of simultaneous uses.
103 pub struct Pool<T> {
104     /// A stack of T values to hand out. These are used when a Pool is
105     /// accessed by a thread that didn't create it.
106     stack: Mutex<Vec<Box<T>>>,
107     /// A function to create more T values when stack is empty and a caller
108     /// has requested a T.
109     create: CreateFn<T>,
110     /// The ID of the thread that owns this pool. The owner is the thread
111     /// that makes the first call to 'get'. When the owner calls 'get', it
112     /// gets 'owner_val' directly instead of returning a T from 'stack'.
113     /// See comments elsewhere for details, but this is intended to be an
114     /// optimization for the common case that makes getting a T faster.
115     ///
116     /// It is initialized to a value of zero (an impossible thread ID) as a
117     /// sentinel to indicate that it is unowned.
118     owner: AtomicUsize,
119     /// A value to return when the caller is in the same thread that created
120     /// the Pool.
121     owner_val: T,
122 }
123 
124 // SAFETY: Since we want to use a Pool from multiple threads simultaneously
125 // behind an Arc, we need for it to be Sync. In cases where T is sync, Pool<T>
126 // would be Sync. However, since we use a Pool to store mutable scratch space,
127 // we wind up using a T that has interior mutability and is thus itself not
128 // Sync. So what we *really* want is for our Pool<T> to by Sync even when T is
129 // not Sync (but is at least Send).
130 //
131 // The only non-sync aspect of a Pool is its 'owner_val' field, which is used
132 // to implement faster access to a pool value in the common case of a pool
133 // being accessed in the same thread in which it was created. The 'stack' field
134 // is also shared, but a Mutex<T> where T: Send is already Sync. So we only
135 // need to worry about 'owner_val'.
136 //
137 // The key is to guarantee that 'owner_val' can only ever be accessed from one
138 // thread. In our implementation below, we guarantee this by only returning the
139 // 'owner_val' when the ID of the current thread matches the ID of the thread
140 // that created the Pool. Since this can only ever be one thread, it follows
141 // that only one thread can access 'owner_val' at any point in time. Thus, it
142 // is safe to declare that Pool<T> is Sync when T is Send.
143 //
144 // NOTE: It would also be possible to make the owning thread be the *first*
145 // thread that tries to get a value out of a Pool. However, the current
146 // implementation is a little simpler and it's not clear if making the first
147 // thread (rather than the creating thread) is meaningfully better.
148 //
149 // If there is a way to achieve our performance goals using safe code, then
150 // I would very much welcome a patch. As it stands, the implementation below
151 // tries to balance safety with performance. The case where a Regex is used
152 // from multiple threads simultaneously will suffer a bit since getting a cache
153 // will require unlocking a mutex.
154 unsafe impl<T: Send> Sync for Pool<T> {}
155 
156 impl<T: ::std::fmt::Debug> ::std::fmt::Debug for Pool<T> {
fmt(&self, f: &mut ::std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> ::std::fmt::Result157     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut ::std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> ::std::fmt::Result {
158         f.debug_struct("Pool")
159             .field("stack", &self.stack)
160             .field("owner", &self.owner)
161             .field("owner_val", &self.owner_val)
162             .finish()
163     }
164 }
165 
166 /// A guard that is returned when a caller requests a value from the pool.
167 ///
168 /// The purpose of the guard is to use RAII to automatically put the value back
169 /// in the pool once it's dropped.
170 #[derive(Debug)]
171 pub struct PoolGuard<'a, T: Send> {
172     /// The pool that this guard is attached to.
173     pool: &'a Pool<T>,
174     /// This is None when the guard represents the special "owned" value. In
175     /// which case, the value is retrieved from 'pool.owner_val'.
176     value: Option<Box<T>>,
177 }
178 
179 impl<T: Send> Pool<T> {
180     /// Create a new pool. The given closure is used to create values in the
181     /// pool when necessary.
new(create: CreateFn<T>) -> Pool<T>182     pub fn new(create: CreateFn<T>) -> Pool<T> {
183         let owner = AtomicUsize::new(0);
184         let owner_val = create();
185         Pool { stack: Mutex::new(vec![]), create, owner, owner_val }
186     }
187 
188     /// Get a value from the pool. The caller is guaranteed to have exclusive
189     /// access to the given value.
190     ///
191     /// Note that there is no guarantee provided about which value in the
192     /// pool is returned. That is, calling get, dropping the guard (causing
193     /// the value to go back into the pool) and then calling get again is NOT
194     /// guaranteed to return the same value received in the first get call.
195     #[cfg_attr(feature = "perf-inline", inline(always))]
get(&self) -> PoolGuard<'_, T>196     pub fn get(&self) -> PoolGuard<'_, T> {
197         // Our fast path checks if the caller is the thread that "owns" this
198         // pool. Or stated differently, whether it is the first thread that
199         // tried to extract a value from the pool. If it is, then we can return
200         // a T to the caller without going through a mutex.
201         //
202         // SAFETY: We must guarantee that only one thread gets access to this
203         // value. Since a thread is uniquely identified by the THREAD_ID thread
204         // local, it follows that is the caller's thread ID is equal to the
205         // owner, then only one thread may receive this value.
206         let caller = THREAD_ID.with(|id| *id);
207         let owner = self.owner.load(Ordering::Relaxed);
208         if caller == owner {
209             return self.guard_owned();
210         }
211         self.get_slow(caller, owner)
212     }
213 
214     /// This is the "slow" version that goes through a mutex to pop an
215     /// allocated value off a stack to return to the caller. (Or, if the stack
216     /// is empty, a new value is created.)
217     ///
218     /// If the pool has no owner, then this will set the owner.
219     #[cold]
get_slow(&self, caller: usize, owner: usize) -> PoolGuard<'_, T>220     fn get_slow(&self, caller: usize, owner: usize) -> PoolGuard<'_, T> {
221         use std::sync::atomic::Ordering::Relaxed;
222 
223         if owner == 0 {
224             // The sentinel 0 value means this pool is not yet owned. We
225             // try to atomically set the owner. If we do, then this thread
226             // becomes the owner and we can return a guard that represents
227             // the special T for the owner.
228             let res = self.owner.compare_exchange(0, caller, Relaxed, Relaxed);
229             if res.is_ok() {
230                 return self.guard_owned();
231             }
232         }
233         let mut stack = self.stack.lock().unwrap();
234         let value = match stack.pop() {
235             None => Box::new((self.create)()),
236             Some(value) => value,
237         };
238         self.guard_stack(value)
239     }
240 
241     /// Puts a value back into the pool. Callers don't need to call this. Once
242     /// the guard that's returned by 'get' is dropped, it is put back into the
243     /// pool automatically.
put(&self, value: Box<T>)244     fn put(&self, value: Box<T>) {
245         let mut stack = self.stack.lock().unwrap();
246         stack.push(value);
247     }
248 
249     /// Create a guard that represents the special owned T.
guard_owned(&self) -> PoolGuard<'_, T>250     fn guard_owned(&self) -> PoolGuard<'_, T> {
251         PoolGuard { pool: self, value: None }
252     }
253 
254     /// Create a guard that contains a value from the pool's stack.
guard_stack(&self, value: Box<T>) -> PoolGuard<'_, T>255     fn guard_stack(&self, value: Box<T>) -> PoolGuard<'_, T> {
256         PoolGuard { pool: self, value: Some(value) }
257     }
258 }
259 
260 impl<'a, T: Send> PoolGuard<'a, T> {
261     /// Return the underlying value.
value(&self) -> &T262     pub fn value(&self) -> &T {
263         match self.value {
264             None => &self.pool.owner_val,
265             Some(ref v) => &**v,
266         }
267     }
268 }
269 
270 impl<'a, T: Send> Drop for PoolGuard<'a, T> {
271     #[cfg_attr(feature = "perf-inline", inline(always))]
drop(&mut self)272     fn drop(&mut self) {
273         if let Some(value) = self.value.take() {
274             self.pool.put(value);
275         }
276     }
277 }
278 
279 #[cfg(test)]
280 mod tests {
281     use std::panic::{RefUnwindSafe, UnwindSafe};
282 
283     use super::*;
284 
285     #[test]
oibits()286     fn oibits() {
287         use crate::exec::ProgramCache;
288 
289         fn has_oibits<T: Send + Sync + UnwindSafe + RefUnwindSafe>() {}
290         has_oibits::<Pool<ProgramCache>>();
291     }
292 
293     // Tests that Pool implements the "single owner" optimization. That is, the
294     // thread that first accesses the pool gets its own copy, while all other
295     // threads get distinct copies.
296     #[test]
thread_owner_optimization()297     fn thread_owner_optimization() {
298         use std::cell::RefCell;
299         use std::sync::Arc;
300 
301         let pool: Arc<Pool<RefCell<Vec<char>>>> =
302             Arc::new(Pool::new(Box::new(|| RefCell::new(vec!['a']))));
303         pool.get().value().borrow_mut().push('x');
304 
305         let pool1 = pool.clone();
306         let t1 = std::thread::spawn(move || {
307             let guard = pool1.get();
308             let v = guard.value();
309             v.borrow_mut().push('y');
310         });
311 
312         let pool2 = pool.clone();
313         let t2 = std::thread::spawn(move || {
314             let guard = pool2.get();
315             let v = guard.value();
316             v.borrow_mut().push('z');
317         });
318 
319         t1.join().unwrap();
320         t2.join().unwrap();
321 
322         // If we didn't implement the single owner optimization, then one of
323         // the threads above is likely to have mutated the [a, x] vec that
324         // we stuffed in the pool before spawning the threads. But since
325         // neither thread was first to access the pool, and because of the
326         // optimization, we should be guaranteed that neither thread mutates
327         // the special owned pool value.
328         //
329         // (Technically this is an implementation detail and not a contract of
330         // Pool's API.)
331         assert_eq!(vec!['a', 'x'], *pool.get().value().borrow());
332     }
333 }
334