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1 // Copyright (c) 2011 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
2 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
3 // found in the LICENSE file.
4 
5 // ConditionVariable wraps pthreads condition variable synchronization or, on
6 // Windows, simulates it.  This functionality is very helpful for having
7 // several threads wait for an event, as is common with a thread pool managed
8 // by a master.  The meaning of such an event in the (worker) thread pool
9 // scenario is that additional tasks are now available for processing.  It is
10 // used in Chrome in the DNS prefetching system to notify worker threads that
11 // a queue now has items (tasks) which need to be tended to.  A related use
12 // would have a pool manager waiting on a ConditionVariable, waiting for a
13 // thread in the pool to announce (signal) that there is now more room in a
14 // (bounded size) communications queue for the manager to deposit tasks, or,
15 // as a second example, that the queue of tasks is completely empty and all
16 // workers are waiting.
17 //
18 // USAGE NOTE 1: spurious signal events are possible with this and
19 // most implementations of condition variables.  As a result, be
20 // *sure* to retest your condition before proceeding.  The following
21 // is a good example of doing this correctly:
22 //
23 // while (!work_to_be_done()) Wait(...);
24 //
25 // In contrast do NOT do the following:
26 //
27 // if (!work_to_be_done()) Wait(...);  // Don't do this.
28 //
29 // Especially avoid the above if you are relying on some other thread only
30 // issuing a signal up *if* there is work-to-do.  There can/will
31 // be spurious signals.  Recheck state on waiting thread before
32 // assuming the signal was intentional. Caveat caller ;-).
33 //
34 // USAGE NOTE 2: Broadcast() frees up all waiting threads at once,
35 // which leads to contention for the locks they all held when they
36 // called Wait().  This results in POOR performance.  A much better
37 // approach to getting a lot of threads out of Wait() is to have each
38 // thread (upon exiting Wait()) call Signal() to free up another
39 // Wait'ing thread.  Look at condition_variable_unittest.cc for
40 // both examples.
41 //
42 // Broadcast() can be used nicely during teardown, as it gets the job
43 // done, and leaves no sleeping threads... and performance is less
44 // critical at that point.
45 //
46 // The semantics of Broadcast() are carefully crafted so that *all*
47 // threads that were waiting when the request was made will indeed
48 // get signaled.  Some implementations mess up, and don't signal them
49 // all, while others allow the wait to be effectively turned off (for
50 // a while while waiting threads come around).  This implementation
51 // appears correct, as it will not "lose" any signals, and will guarantee
52 // that all threads get signaled by Broadcast().
53 //
54 // This implementation offers support for "performance" in its selection of
55 // which thread to revive.  Performance, in direct contrast with "fairness,"
56 // assures that the thread that most recently began to Wait() is selected by
57 // Signal to revive.  Fairness would (if publicly supported) assure that the
58 // thread that has Wait()ed the longest is selected. The default policy
59 // may improve performance, as the selected thread may have a greater chance of
60 // having some of its stack data in various CPU caches.
61 //
62 // For a discussion of the many very subtle implementation details, see the FAQ
63 // at the end of condition_variable_win.cc.
64 
65 #ifndef BASE_SYNCHRONIZATION_CONDITION_VARIABLE_H_
66 #define BASE_SYNCHRONIZATION_CONDITION_VARIABLE_H_
67 
68 #include "build/build_config.h"
69 
70 #if defined(OS_POSIX)
71 #include <pthread.h>
72 #endif
73 
74 #include "base/base_export.h"
75 #include "base/basictypes.h"
76 #include "base/synchronization/lock.h"
77 
78 namespace base {
79 
80 class ConditionVarImpl;
81 class TimeDelta;
82 
83 class BASE_EXPORT ConditionVariable {
84  public:
85   // Construct a cv for use with ONLY one user lock.
86   explicit ConditionVariable(Lock* user_lock);
87 
88   ~ConditionVariable();
89 
90   // Wait() releases the caller's critical section atomically as it starts to
91   // sleep, and the reacquires it when it is signaled.
92   void Wait();
93   void TimedWait(const TimeDelta& max_time);
94 
95   // Broadcast() revives all waiting threads.
96   void Broadcast();
97   // Signal() revives one waiting thread.
98   void Signal();
99 
100  private:
101 
102 #if defined(OS_WIN)
103   ConditionVarImpl* impl_;
104 #elif defined(OS_POSIX)
105   pthread_cond_t condition_;
106   pthread_mutex_t* user_mutex_;
107 #if !defined(NDEBUG) || defined(DCHECK_ALWAYS_ON)
108   base::Lock* user_lock_;     // Needed to adjust shadow lock state on wait.
109 #endif
110 
111 #endif
112 
113   DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(ConditionVariable);
114 };
115 
116 }  // namespace base
117 
118 #endif  // BASE_SYNCHRONIZATION_CONDITION_VARIABLE_H_
119