//! Synchronization primitives. //! //! This module is an async version of [`std::sync`]. //! //! [`std::sync`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/sync/index.html //! //! ## The need for synchronization //! //! async-std's sync primitives are scheduler-aware, making it possible to //! `.await` their operations - for example the locking of a [`Mutex`]. //! //! Conceptually, a Rust program is a series of operations which will //! be executed on a computer. The timeline of events happening in the //! program is consistent with the order of the operations in the code. //! //! Consider the following code, operating on some global static variables: //! //! ``` //! static mut A: u32 = 0; //! static mut B: u32 = 0; //! static mut C: u32 = 0; //! //! fn main() { //! unsafe { //! A = 3; //! B = 4; //! A = A + B; //! C = B; //! println!("{} {} {}", A, B, C); //! C = A; //! } //! } //! ``` //! //! It appears as if some variables stored in memory are changed, an addition //! is performed, result is stored in `A` and the variable `C` is //! modified twice. //! //! When only a single thread is involved, the results are as expected: //! the line `7 4 4` gets printed. //! //! As for what happens behind the scenes, when optimizations are enabled the //! final generated machine code might look very different from the code: //! //! - The first store to `C` might be moved before the store to `A` or `B`, //! _as if_ we had written `C = 4; A = 3; B = 4`. //! //! - Assignment of `A + B` to `A` might be removed, since the sum can be stored //! in a temporary location until it gets printed, with the global variable //! never getting updated. //! //! - The final result could be determined just by looking at the code //! at compile time, so [constant folding] might turn the whole //! block into a simple `println!("7 4 4")`. //! //! The compiler is allowed to perform any combination of these //! optimizations, as long as the final optimized code, when executed, //! produces the same results as the one without optimizations. //! //! Due to the [concurrency] involved in modern computers, assumptions //! about the program's execution order are often wrong. Access to //! global variables can lead to nondeterministic results, **even if** //! compiler optimizations are disabled, and it is **still possible** //! to introduce synchronization bugs. //! //! Note that thanks to Rust's safety guarantees, accessing global (static) //! variables requires `unsafe` code, assuming we don't use any of the //! synchronization primitives in this module. //! //! [constant folding]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constant_folding //! [concurrency]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concurrency_(computer_science) //! //! ## Out-of-order execution //! //! Instructions can execute in a different order from the one we define, due to //! various reasons: //! //! - The **compiler** reordering instructions: If the compiler can issue an //! instruction at an earlier point, it will try to do so. For example, it //! might hoist memory loads at the top of a code block, so that the CPU can //! start [prefetching] the values from memory. //! //! In single-threaded scenarios, this can cause issues when writing //! signal handlers or certain kinds of low-level code. //! Use [compiler fences] to prevent this reordering. //! //! - A **single processor** executing instructions [out-of-order]: //! Modern CPUs are capable of [superscalar] execution, //! i.e., multiple instructions might be executing at the same time, //! even though the machine code describes a sequential process. //! //! This kind of reordering is handled transparently by the CPU. //! //! - A **multiprocessor** system executing multiple hardware threads //! at the same time: In multi-threaded scenarios, you can use two //! kinds of primitives to deal with synchronization: //! - [memory fences] to ensure memory accesses are made visible to //! other CPUs in the right order. //! - [atomic operations] to ensure simultaneous access to the same //! memory location doesn't lead to undefined behavior. //! //! [prefetching]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cache_prefetching //! [compiler fences]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/sync/atomic/fn.compiler_fence.html //! [out-of-order]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-order_execution //! [superscalar]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superscalar_processor //! [memory fences]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/sync/atomic/fn.fence.html //! [atomic operations]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/sync/atomic/index.html //! //! ## Higher-level synchronization objects //! //! Most of the low-level synchronization primitives are quite error-prone and //! inconvenient to use, which is why async-std also exposes some //! higher-level synchronization objects. //! //! These abstractions can be built out of lower-level primitives. //! For efficiency, the sync objects in async-std are usually //! implemented with help from the scheduler, which is //! able to reschedule the tasks while they are blocked on acquiring //! a lock. //! //! The following is an overview of the available synchronization //! objects: //! //! - [`Arc`]: Atomically Reference-Counted pointer, which can be used //! in multithreaded environments to prolong the lifetime of some //! data until all the threads have finished using it. //! //! - [`Barrier`]: Ensures multiple threads will wait for each other //! to reach a point in the program, before continuing execution all //! together. //! //! - [`channel`]: Multi-producer, multi-consumer queues, used for //! message-based communication. Can provide a lightweight //! inter-task synchronisation mechanism, at the cost of some //! extra memory. //! //! - [`Mutex`]: Mutual exclusion mechanism, which ensures that at //! most one task at a time is able to access some data. //! //! - [`RwLock`]: Provides a mutual exclusion mechanism which allows //! multiple readers at the same time, while allowing only one //! writer at a time. In some cases, this can be more efficient than //! a mutex. //! //! [`Arc`]: struct.Arc.html //! [`Barrier`]: struct.Barrier.html //! [`channel`]: fn.channel.html //! [`Mutex`]: struct.Mutex.html //! [`RwLock`]: struct.RwLock.html //! //! # Examples //! //! Spawn a task that updates an integer protected by a mutex: //! //! ``` //! # async_std::task::block_on(async { //! # //! use async_std::sync::{Arc, Mutex}; //! use async_std::task; //! //! let m1 = Arc::new(Mutex::new(0)); //! let m2 = m1.clone(); //! //! task::spawn(async move { //! *m2.lock().await = 1; //! }) //! .await; //! //! assert_eq!(*m1.lock().await, 1); //! # //! # }) //! ``` #![allow(clippy::needless_doctest_main)] #[doc(inline)] pub use std::sync::{Arc, Weak}; pub use mutex::{Mutex, MutexGuard}; pub use rwlock::{RwLock, RwLockReadGuard, RwLockWriteGuard}; mod mutex; mod rwlock; cfg_unstable! { pub use barrier::{Barrier, BarrierWaitResult}; pub use channel::{channel, Sender, Receiver}; mod barrier; mod channel; } pub(crate) mod waker_set; pub(crate) use waker_set::WakerSet;