From: Peter Dimov (pdimov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-09-07 07:19:23
Joel Salomon wrote:
> John Torjo wrote:
>> Use mutexes.
> and
>> In my experience, I hardly need just a container to be thead-safe. I
>> usually need more data in addition to the container (which needs to
>> be thread-safe). For instance, an extra latest_access_time, out_file,
>> used_for_the_first_time, etc.
>>
>> Thus, to me, the benefit of having a thread-safe container is very
>> small.
> One thread-safe container that might be useful is a channel - a queue
> that one thread writes to and another reads to, the reader blocking
> when the channel is empty.
Right. This is the _only_ thread-safe(*) container (that I'm aware of) that
is generally useful. Even here, there is a choice between non-blocking and
blocking semantics (which preclude a lock-free implementation.) Having a max
size implies blocking on push, of course.
(*) For the implied definition of "thread safe" that we are using in this
context ("strong" thread safety).