//! Efficient read-write locking without `pthread_rwlock_t`. //! //! The readers-writer lock provided by the `pthread` library has a number of problems which make it //! a suboptimal choice for `std`: //! //! * It is non-movable, so it needs to be allocated (lazily, to make the constructor `const`). //! * `pthread` is an external library, meaning the fast path of acquiring an uncontended lock //! cannot be inlined. //! * Some platforms (at least glibc before version 2.25) have buggy implementations that can easily //! lead to undefined behaviour in safe Rust code when not properly guarded against. //! * On some platforms (e.g. macOS), the lock is very slow. //! //! Therefore, we implement our own [`RwLock`]! Naively, one might reach for a spinlock, but those //! can be quite [problematic] when the lock is contended. //! //! Instead, this [`RwLock`] copies its implementation strategy from the Windows [SRWLOCK] and the //! [usync] library implementations. //! //! Spinning is still used for the fast path, but it is bounded: after spinning fails, threads will //! locklessly add an information structure ([`Node`]) containing a [`Thread`] handle into a queue //! of waiters associated with the lock. The lock owner, upon releasing the lock, will scan through //! the queue and wake up threads as appropriate, and the newly-awoken threads will then try to //! acquire the lock themselves. //! //! The resulting [`RwLock`] is: //! //! * adaptive, since it spins before doing any heavyweight parking operations //! * allocation-free, modulo the per-thread [`Thread`] handle, which is allocated anyways when //! using threads created by `std` //! * writer-preferring, even if some readers may still slip through //! * unfair, which reduces context-switching and thus drastically improves performance //! //! and also quite fast in most cases. //! //! [problematic]: https://matklad.github.io/2020/01/02/spinlocks-considered-harmful.html //! [SRWLOCK]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/sync/slim-reader-writer--srw--locks //! [usync]: https://crates.io/crates/usync //! //! # Implementation //! //! ## State //! //! A single [`AtomicPtr`] is used as state variable. The lowest four bits are used to indicate the //! meaning of the remaining bits: //! //! | [`LOCKED`] | [`QUEUED`] | [`QUEUE_LOCKED`] | [`DOWNGRADED`] | Remaining | | //! |------------|:-----------|:-----------------|:---------------|:-------------|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| //! | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | The lock is unlocked, no threads are waiting | //! | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | The lock is write-locked, no threads waiting | //! | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n > 0 | The lock is read-locked with n readers | //! | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | `*mut Node` | The lock is unlocked, but some threads are waiting. Only writers may lock the lock | //! | 1 | 1 | * | * | `*mut Node` | The lock is locked, but some threads are waiting. If the lock is read-locked, the last queue node contains the reader count | //! //! ## Waiter Queue //! //! When threads are waiting on the lock (the `QUEUE` bit is set), the lock state points to a queue //! of waiters, which is implemented as a linked list of nodes stored on the stack to avoid memory //! allocation. //! //! To enable lock-free enqueuing of new nodes to the queue, the linked list is singly-linked upon //! creation. //! //! When the lock is read-locked, the lock count (number of readers) is stored in the last link of //! the queue. Threads have to traverse the queue to find the last element upon releasing the lock. //! To avoid having to traverse the entire list every time we want to access the reader count, a //! pointer to the found tail is cached in the (current) first element of the queue. //! //! Also, while the lock is unfair for performance reasons, it is still best to wake the tail node //! first (FIFO ordering). Since we always pop nodes off the tail of the queue, we must store //! backlinks to previous nodes so that we can update the `tail` field of the (current) first //! element of the queue. Adding backlinks is done at the same time as finding the tail (via the //! function [`find_tail_and_add_backlinks`]), and thus encountering a set tail field on a node //! indicates that all following nodes in the queue are initialized. //! //! TLDR: Here's a diagram of what the queue looks like: //! //! ```text //! state //! │ //! ▼ //! ╭───────╮ next ╭───────╮ next ╭───────╮ next ╭───────╮ //! │ ├─────►│ ├─────►│ ├─────►│ count │ //! │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ //! │ │ │ │◄─────┤ │◄─────┤ │ //! ╰───────╯ ╰───────╯ prev ╰───────╯ prev ╰───────╯ //! │ ▲ //! └───────────────────────────┘ //! tail //! ``` //! //! Invariants: //! 1. At least one node must contain a non-null, current `tail` field. //! 2. The first non-null `tail` field must be valid and current. //! 3. All nodes preceding this node must have a correct, non-null `next` field. //! 4. All nodes following this node must have a correct, non-null `prev` field. //! //! Access to the queue is controlled by the `QUEUE_LOCKED` bit. Threads will try to set this bit //! in two cases: one is when a thread enqueues itself and eagerly adds backlinks to the queue //! (which drastically improves performance), and the other is after a thread unlocks the lock to //! wake up the next waiter(s). //! //! `QUEUE_LOCKED` is set atomically at the same time as the enqueuing/unlocking operations. The //! thread releasing the `QUEUE_LOCKED` bit will check the state of the lock (in particular, whether //! a downgrade was requested using the [`DOWNGRADED`] bit) and wake up waiters as appropriate. This //! guarantees forward progress even if the unlocking thread could not acquire the queue lock. //! //! ## Memory Orderings //! //! To properly synchronize changes to the data protected by the lock, the lock is acquired and //! released with [`Acquire`] and [`Release`] ordering, respectively. To propagate the //! initialization of nodes, changes to the queue lock are also performed using these orderings. #![forbid(unsafe_op_in_unsafe_fn)] use crate::cell::OnceCell; use crate::hint::spin_loop; use crate::mem; use crate::ptr::{self, NonNull, null_mut, without_provenance_mut}; use crate::sync::atomic::Ordering::{AcqRel, Acquire, Relaxed, Release}; use crate::sync::atomic::{Atomic, AtomicBool, AtomicPtr}; use crate::thread::{self, Thread}; /// The atomic lock state. type AtomicState = Atomic; /// The inner lock state. type State = *mut (); const UNLOCKED: State = without_provenance_mut(0); const LOCKED: usize = 1 << 0; const QUEUED: usize = 1 << 1; const QUEUE_LOCKED: usize = 1 << 2; const DOWNGRADED: usize = 1 << 3; const SINGLE: usize = 1 << 4; const STATE: usize = DOWNGRADED | QUEUE_LOCKED | QUEUED | LOCKED; const NODE_MASK: usize = !STATE; /// Locking uses exponential backoff. `SPIN_COUNT` indicates how many times the locking operation /// will be retried. /// /// In other words, `spin_loop` will be called `2.pow(SPIN_COUNT) - 1` times. const SPIN_COUNT: usize = 7; /// Marks the state as write-locked, if possible. #[inline] fn write_lock(state: State) -> Option { if state.addr() & LOCKED == 0 { Some(state.map_addr(|addr| addr | LOCKED)) } else { None } } /// Marks the state as read-locked, if possible. #[inline] fn read_lock(state: State) -> Option { if state.addr() & QUEUED == 0 && state.addr() != LOCKED { Some(without_provenance_mut(state.addr().checked_add(SINGLE)? | LOCKED)) } else { None } } /// Converts a `State` into a `Node` by masking out the bottom bits of the state, assuming that the /// state points to a queue node. /// /// # Safety /// /// The state must contain a valid pointer to a queue node. #[inline] unsafe fn to_node(state: State) -> NonNull { unsafe { NonNull::new_unchecked(state.mask(NODE_MASK)).cast() } } /// The representation of a thread waiting on the lock queue. /// /// We initialize these `Node`s on thread execution stacks to avoid allocation. /// /// Note that we need an alignment of 16 to ensure that the last 4 bits of any /// pointers to `Node`s are always zeroed (for the bit flags described in the /// module-level documentation). #[repr(align(16))] struct Node { next: AtomicLink, prev: AtomicLink, tail: AtomicLink, write: bool, thread: OnceCell, completed: Atomic, } /// An atomic node pointer with relaxed operations. struct AtomicLink(Atomic<*mut Node>); impl AtomicLink { fn new(v: Option>) -> AtomicLink { AtomicLink(AtomicPtr::new(v.map_or(null_mut(), NonNull::as_ptr))) } fn get(&self) -> Option> { NonNull::new(self.0.load(Relaxed)) } fn set(&self, v: Option>) { self.0.store(v.map_or(null_mut(), NonNull::as_ptr), Relaxed); } } impl Node { /// Creates a new queue node. fn new(write: bool) -> Node { Node { next: AtomicLink::new(None), prev: AtomicLink::new(None), tail: AtomicLink::new(None), write, thread: OnceCell::new(), completed: AtomicBool::new(false), } } /// Prepare this node for waiting. fn prepare(&mut self) { // Fall back to creating an unnamed `Thread` handle to allow locking in TLS destructors. self.thread.get_or_init(thread::current_or_unnamed); self.completed = AtomicBool::new(false); } /// Wait until this node is marked as [`complete`](Node::complete)d by another thread. /// /// # Safety /// /// May only be called from the thread that created the node. unsafe fn wait(&self) { while !self.completed.load(Acquire) { unsafe { self.thread.get().unwrap().park(); } } } /// Atomically mark this node as completed. /// /// # Safety /// /// `node` must point to a valid `Node`, and the node may not outlive this call. unsafe fn complete(node: NonNull) { // Since the node may be destroyed immediately after the completed flag is set, clone the // thread handle before that. let thread = unsafe { node.as_ref().thread.get().unwrap().clone() }; unsafe { node.as_ref().completed.store(true, Release); } thread.unpark(); } } /// Traverse the queue and find the tail, adding backlinks to the queue while traversing. /// /// This may be called from multiple threads at the same time as long as the queue is not being /// modified (this happens when unlocking multiple readers). /// /// # Safety /// /// * `head` must point to a node in a valid queue. /// * `head` must be in front of the previous head node that was used to perform the last removal. /// * The part of the queue starting with `head` must not be modified during this call. unsafe fn find_tail_and_add_backlinks(head: NonNull) -> NonNull { let mut current = head; // Traverse the queue until we find a node that has a set `tail`. let tail = loop { let c = unsafe { current.as_ref() }; if let Some(tail) = c.tail.get() { break tail; } // SAFETY: All `next` fields before the first node with a set `tail` are non-null and valid // (by Invariant 3). unsafe { let next = c.next.get().unwrap_unchecked(); next.as_ref().prev.set(Some(current)); current = next; } }; unsafe { head.as_ref().tail.set(Some(tail)); tail } } /// [`complete`](Node::complete)s all threads in the queue ending with `tail`. /// /// # Safety /// /// * `tail` must be a valid tail of a fully linked queue. /// * The current thread must have exclusive access to that queue. unsafe fn complete_all(tail: NonNull) { let mut current = tail; // Traverse backwards through the queue (FIFO) and `complete` all of the nodes. loop { let prev = unsafe { current.as_ref().prev.get() }; unsafe { Node::complete(current); } match prev { Some(prev) => current = prev, None => return, } } } /// A type to guard against the unwinds of stacks that nodes are located on due to panics. struct PanicGuard; impl Drop for PanicGuard { fn drop(&mut self) { rtabort!("tried to drop node in intrusive list."); } } /// The public inner `RwLock` type. pub struct RwLock { state: AtomicState, } impl RwLock { #[inline] pub const fn new() -> RwLock { RwLock { state: AtomicPtr::new(UNLOCKED) } } #[inline] pub fn try_read(&self) -> bool { self.state.fetch_update(Acquire, Relaxed, read_lock).is_ok() } #[inline] pub fn read(&self) { if !self.try_read() { self.lock_contended(false) } } #[inline] pub fn try_write(&self) -> bool { // Atomically set the `LOCKED` bit. This is lowered to a single atomic instruction on most // modern processors (e.g. "lock bts" on x86 and "ldseta" on modern AArch64), and therefore // is more efficient than `fetch_update(lock(true))`, which can spuriously fail if a new // node is appended to the queue. self.state.fetch_or(LOCKED, Acquire).addr() & LOCKED == 0 } #[inline] pub fn write(&self) { if !self.try_write() { self.lock_contended(true) } } #[cold] fn lock_contended(&self, write: bool) { let mut node = Node::new(write); let mut state = self.state.load(Relaxed); let mut count = 0; let update_fn = if write { write_lock } else { read_lock }; loop { // Optimistically update the state. if let Some(next) = update_fn(state) { // The lock is available, try locking it. match self.state.compare_exchange_weak(state, next, Acquire, Relaxed) { Ok(_) => return, Err(new) => state = new, } continue; } else if state.addr() & QUEUED == 0 && count < SPIN_COUNT { // If the lock is not available and no threads are queued, optimistically spin for a // while, using exponential backoff to decrease cache contention. for _ in 0..(1 << count) { spin_loop(); } state = self.state.load(Relaxed); count += 1; continue; } // The optimistic paths did not succeed, so fall back to parking the thread. // First, prepare the node. node.prepare(); // If there are threads queued, this will set the `next` field to be a pointer to the // first node in the queue. // If the state is read-locked, this will set `next` to the lock count. // If it is write-locked, it will set `next` to zero. node.next.0 = AtomicPtr::new(state.mask(NODE_MASK).cast()); node.prev = AtomicLink::new(None); // Set the `QUEUED` bit and preserve the `LOCKED` and `DOWNGRADED` bit. let mut next = ptr::from_ref(&node) .map_addr(|addr| addr | QUEUED | (state.addr() & (DOWNGRADED | LOCKED))) as State; let mut is_queue_locked = false; if state.addr() & QUEUED == 0 { // If this is the first node in the queue, set the `tail` field to the node itself // to ensure there is a valid `tail` field in the queue (Invariants 1 & 2). // This needs to use `set` to avoid invalidating the new pointer. node.tail.set(Some(NonNull::from(&node))); } else { // Otherwise, the tail of the queue is not known. node.tail.set(None); // Try locking the queue to eagerly add backlinks. next = next.map_addr(|addr| addr | QUEUE_LOCKED); // Track if we changed the `QUEUE_LOCKED` bit from off to on. is_queue_locked = state.addr() & QUEUE_LOCKED == 0; } // Register the node, using release ordering to propagate our changes to the waking // thread. if let Err(new) = self.state.compare_exchange_weak(state, next, AcqRel, Relaxed) { // The state has changed, just try again. state = new; continue; } // The node has been registered, so the structure must not be mutably accessed or // destroyed while other threads may be accessing it. // Guard against unwinds using a `PanicGuard` that aborts when dropped. let guard = PanicGuard; // If the current thread locked the queue, unlock it to eagerly adding backlinks. if is_queue_locked { // SAFETY: This thread set the `QUEUE_LOCKED` bit above. unsafe { self.unlock_queue(next); } } // Wait until the node is removed from the queue. // SAFETY: the node was created by the current thread. unsafe { node.wait(); } // The node was removed from the queue, disarm the guard. mem::forget(guard); // Reload the state and try again. state = self.state.load(Relaxed); count = 0; } } #[inline] pub unsafe fn read_unlock(&self) { match self.state.fetch_update(Release, Acquire, |state| { if state.addr() & QUEUED == 0 { // If there are no threads queued, simply decrement the reader count. let count = state.addr() - (SINGLE | LOCKED); Some(if count > 0 { without_provenance_mut(count | LOCKED) } else { UNLOCKED }) } else if state.addr() & DOWNGRADED != 0 { // This thread used to have exclusive access, but requested a downgrade. This has // not been completed yet, so we still have exclusive access. // Retract the downgrade request and unlock, but leave waking up new threads to the // thread that already holds the queue lock. Some(state.mask(!(DOWNGRADED | LOCKED))) } else { None } }) { Ok(_) => {} // There are waiters queued and the lock count was moved to the tail of the queue. Err(state) => unsafe { self.read_unlock_contended(state) }, } } /// # Safety /// /// * There must be threads queued on the lock. /// * `state` must be a pointer to a node in a valid queue. /// * There cannot be a `downgrade` in progress. #[cold] unsafe fn read_unlock_contended(&self, state: State) { // SAFETY: // The state was observed with acquire ordering above, so the current thread will have // observed all node initializations. // We also know that no threads can be modifying the queue starting at `state`: because new // read-locks cannot be acquired while there are any threads queued on the lock, all // queue-lock owners will observe a set `LOCKED` bit in `self.state` and will not modify // the queue. The other case that a thread could modify the queue is if a downgrade is in // progress (removal of the entire queue), but since that is part of this function's safety // contract, we can guarantee that no other threads can modify the queue. let tail = unsafe { find_tail_and_add_backlinks(to_node(state)).as_ref() }; // The lock count is stored in the `next` field of `tail`. // Decrement it, making sure to observe all changes made to the queue by the other lock // owners by using acquire-release ordering. let was_last = tail.next.0.fetch_byte_sub(SINGLE, AcqRel).addr() - SINGLE == 0; if was_last { // SAFETY: Other threads cannot read-lock while threads are queued. Also, the `LOCKED` // bit is still set, so there are no writers. Thus the current thread exclusively owns // this lock, even though it is a reader. unsafe { self.unlock_contended(state) } } } #[inline] pub unsafe fn write_unlock(&self) { if let Err(state) = self.state.compare_exchange(without_provenance_mut(LOCKED), UNLOCKED, Release, Relaxed) { // SAFETY: Since other threads cannot acquire the lock, the state can only have changed // because there are threads queued on the lock. unsafe { self.unlock_contended(state) } } } /// # Safety /// /// * The lock must be exclusively owned by this thread. /// * There must be threads queued on the lock. /// * `state` must be a pointer to a node in a valid queue. /// * There cannot be a `downgrade` in progress. #[cold] unsafe fn unlock_contended(&self, state: State) { debug_assert_eq!(state.addr() & (DOWNGRADED | QUEUED | LOCKED), QUEUED | LOCKED); let mut current = state; // We want to atomically release the lock and try to acquire the queue lock. loop { // First check if the queue lock is already held. if current.addr() & QUEUE_LOCKED != 0 { // Another thread holds the queue lock, so let them wake up waiters for us. let next = current.mask(!LOCKED); match self.state.compare_exchange_weak(current, next, Release, Relaxed) { Ok(_) => return, Err(new) => { current = new; continue; } } } // Atomically release the lock and try to acquire the queue lock. let next = current.map_addr(|addr| (addr & !LOCKED) | QUEUE_LOCKED); match self.state.compare_exchange_weak(current, next, AcqRel, Relaxed) { // Now that we have the queue lock, we can wake up the next waiter. Ok(_) => { // SAFETY: This thread just acquired the queue lock, and this function's safety // contract requires that there are threads already queued on the lock. unsafe { self.unlock_queue(next) }; return; } Err(new) => current = new, } } } /// # Safety /// /// * The lock must be write-locked by this thread. #[inline] pub unsafe fn downgrade(&self) { // Optimistically change the state from write-locked with a single writer and no waiters to // read-locked with a single reader and no waiters. if let Err(state) = self.state.compare_exchange( without_provenance_mut(LOCKED), without_provenance_mut(SINGLE | LOCKED), Release, Relaxed, ) { // SAFETY: The only way the state can have changed is if there are threads queued. // Wake all of them up. unsafe { self.downgrade_slow(state) } } } /// Downgrades the lock from write-locked to read-locked in the case that there are threads /// waiting on the wait queue. /// /// This function will either wake up all of the waiters on the wait queue or designate the /// current holder of the queue lock to wake up all of the waiters instead. Once the waiters /// wake up, they will continue in the execution loop of `lock_contended`. /// /// # Safety /// /// * The lock must be write-locked by this thread. /// * `state` must be a pointer to a node in a valid queue. /// * There must be threads queued on the lock. #[cold] unsafe fn downgrade_slow(&self, mut state: State) { debug_assert_eq!(state.addr() & (DOWNGRADED | QUEUED | LOCKED), QUEUED | LOCKED); // Attempt to wake up all waiters by taking ownership of the entire waiter queue. loop { if state.addr() & QUEUE_LOCKED != 0 { // Another thread already holds the queue lock. Tell it to wake up all waiters. // If the other thread succeeds in waking up waiters before we release our lock, the // effect will be just the same as if we had changed the state below. // Otherwise, the `DOWNGRADED` bit will still be set, meaning that when this thread // calls `read_unlock` later (because it holds a read lock and must unlock // eventually), it will realize that the lock is still exclusively locked and act // accordingly. let next = state.map_addr(|addr| addr | DOWNGRADED); match self.state.compare_exchange_weak(state, next, Release, Relaxed) { Ok(_) => return, Err(new) => state = new, } } else { // Grab the entire queue by swapping the `state` with a single reader. let next = ptr::without_provenance_mut(SINGLE | LOCKED); if let Err(new) = self.state.compare_exchange_weak(state, next, AcqRel, Relaxed) { state = new; continue; } // SAFETY: We have full ownership of this queue now, so nobody else can modify it. let tail = unsafe { find_tail_and_add_backlinks(to_node(state)) }; // Wake up all waiters. // SAFETY: `tail` was just computed, meaning the whole queue is linked, and we have // full ownership of the queue, so we have exclusive access. unsafe { complete_all(tail) }; return; } } } /// Unlocks the queue. Wakes up all threads if a downgrade was requested, otherwise wakes up the /// next eligible thread(s) if the lock is unlocked. /// /// # Safety /// /// * The queue lock must be held by the current thread. /// * `state` must be a pointer to a node in a valid queue. /// * There must be threads queued on the lock. unsafe fn unlock_queue(&self, mut state: State) { debug_assert_eq!(state.addr() & (QUEUED | QUEUE_LOCKED), QUEUED | QUEUE_LOCKED); loop { // SAFETY: Since we have the queue lock, nobody else can be modifying the queue. let tail = unsafe { find_tail_and_add_backlinks(to_node(state)) }; if state.addr() & (DOWNGRADED | LOCKED) == LOCKED { // Another thread has locked the lock and no downgrade was requested. // Leave waking up waiters to them by releasing the queue lock. match self.state.compare_exchange_weak( state, state.mask(!QUEUE_LOCKED), Release, Acquire, ) { Ok(_) => return, Err(new) => { state = new; continue; } } } // Since we hold the queue lock and downgrades cannot be requested if the lock is // already read-locked, we have exclusive control over the queue here and can make // modifications. let downgrade = state.addr() & DOWNGRADED != 0; let is_writer = unsafe { tail.as_ref().write }; if !downgrade && is_writer && let Some(prev) = unsafe { tail.as_ref().prev.get() } { // If we are not downgrading and the next thread is a writer, only wake up that // writing thread. // Split off `tail`. // There are no set `tail` links before the node pointed to by `state`, so the first // non-null tail field will be current (Invariant 2). // We also fulfill Invariant 4 since `find_tail` was called on this node, which // ensures all backlinks are set. unsafe { to_node(state).as_ref().tail.set(Some(prev)); } // Try to release the queue lock. We need to check the state again since another // thread might have acquired the lock and requested a downgrade. let next = state.mask(!QUEUE_LOCKED); if let Err(new) = self.state.compare_exchange_weak(state, next, Release, Acquire) { // Undo the tail modification above, so that we can find the tail again above. // As mentioned above, we have exclusive control over the queue, so no other // thread could have noticed the change. unsafe { to_node(state).as_ref().tail.set(Some(tail)); } state = new; continue; } // The tail was split off and the lock was released. Mark the node as completed. unsafe { return Node::complete(tail); } } else { // We are either downgrading, the next waiter is a reader, or the queue only // consists of one waiter. In any case, just wake all threads. // Clear the queue. let next = if downgrade { ptr::without_provenance_mut(SINGLE | LOCKED) } else { UNLOCKED }; if let Err(new) = self.state.compare_exchange_weak(state, next, Release, Acquire) { state = new; continue; } // SAFETY: we computed `tail` above, and no new nodes can have been added since // (otherwise the CAS above would have failed). // Thus we have complete control over the whole queue. unsafe { return complete_all(tail); } } } } }