Assume I have a Read/Write monitor implementation in Java.
Several Readers OR One Writer can access the database at any one time (not both)
class RWmonitor{
private int readers = 0;
private boolean writing = false;
public synchronized void StartRead(){ ..}
public synchronized void EndRead(){
notifyAll();
readers--;
}
public synchronized void StartWrite(){ ..}
public synchronized void EndWrite(){
notifyAll();
writing = false;
}
}
Now, does it matter if notifyAll() is not the last statement in the synchronized method?
Assume:
1) EndRead() executes
2) notifyAll() notifies all waiting threads
3) Then it reduces the reader count.
When it executes notifyAll(), will it just be more costly since the woken up threads would be waiting for the lock on RWmonitor to be released? (assuming the thread that has the lock on RWmonitor is still at readers--;)
It does not matter if it is the last statement.
To quote the javadoc for notifyAll():
The awakened threads will not be able to proceed until the current thread relinquishes the lock on this object.
No, it doesn't matter. The lock will still be held until the end of the synchronized block, and no threads will be able to wait on the lock in the intervening time. In fact it is slightly advantageous to have the notify first in that an exception may stop the update but not the notify.
Related
I am using multi-threading in java for my program.
I have run thread successfully but when I am using Thread.wait(), it is throwing java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException.
How can I make a thread wait until it will be notified?
You need to be in a synchronized block in order for Object.wait() to work.
Also, I recommend looking at the concurrency packages instead of the old school threading packages. They are safer and way easier to work with.
EDIT
I assumed you meant Object.wait() as your exception is what happens when you try to gain access without holding the objects lock.
wait is defined in Object, and not it Thread. The monitor on Thread is a little unpredictable.
Although all Java objects have monitors, it is generally better to have a dedicated lock:
private final Object lock = new Object();
You can get slightly easier to read diagnostics, at a small memory cost (about 2K per process) by using a named class:
private static final class Lock { }
private final Object lock = new Lock();
In order to wait or notify/notifyAll an object, you need to be holding the lock with the synchronized statement. Also, you will need a while loop to check for the wakeup condition (find a good text on threading to explain why).
synchronized (lock) {
while (!isWakeupNeeded()) {
lock.wait();
}
}
To notify:
synchronized (lock) {
makeWakeupNeeded();
lock.notifyAll();
}
It is well worth getting to understand both Java language and java.util.concurrent.locks locks (and java.util.concurrent.atomic) when getting into multithreading. But use java.util.concurrent data structures whenever you can.
I know this thread is almost 2 years old but still need to close this since I also came to this Q/A session with same issue...
Please read this definition of illegalMonitorException again and again...
IllegalMonitorException is thrown to indicate that a thread has attempted to wait on an object's monitor or to notify other threads waiting on an object's monitor without owning the specified monitor.
This line again and again says, IllegalMonitorException comes when one of the 2 situation occurs....
1> wait on an object's monitor without owning the specified monitor.
2> notify other threads waiting on an object's monitor without owning the specified monitor.
Some might have got their answers... who all doesn't, then please check 2 statements....
synchronized (object)
object.wait()
If both object are same... then no illegalMonitorException can come.
Now again read the IllegalMonitorException definition and you wont forget it again...
Based on your comments it sounds like you are doing something like this:
Thread thread = new Thread(new Runnable(){
public void run() { // do stuff }});
thread.start();
...
thread.wait();
There are three problems.
As others have said, obj.wait() can only be called if the current thread holds the primitive lock / mutex for obj. If the current thread does not hold the lock, you get the exception you are seeing.
The thread.wait() call does not do what you seem to be expecting it to do. Specifically, thread.wait() does not cause the nominated thread to wait. Rather it causes the current thread to wait until some other thread calls thread.notify() or thread.notifyAll().
There is actually no safe way to force a Thread instance to pause if it doesn't want to. (The nearest that Java has to this is the deprecated Thread.suspend() method, but that method is inherently unsafe, as is explained in the Javadoc.)
If you want the newly started Thread to pause, the best way to do it is to create a CountdownLatch instance and have the thread call await() on the latch to pause itself. The main thread would then call countDown() on the latch to let the paused thread continue.
Orthogonal to the previous points, using a Thread object as a lock / mutex may cause problems. For example, the javadoc for Thread::join says:
This implementation uses a loop of this.wait calls conditioned on this.isAlive. As a thread terminates the this.notifyAll method is invoked. It is recommended that applications not use wait, notify, or notifyAll on Thread instances.
Since you haven't posted code, we're kind of working in the dark. What are the details of the exception?
Are you calling Thread.wait() from within the thread, or outside it?
I ask this because according to the javadoc for IllegalMonitorStateException, it is:
Thrown to indicate that a thread has attempted to wait on an object's monitor or to notify other threads waiting on an object's monitor without owning the specified monitor.
To clarify this answer, this call to wait on a thread also throws IllegalMonitorStateException, despite being called from within a synchronized block:
private static final class Lock { }
private final Object lock = new Lock();
#Test
public void testRun() {
ThreadWorker worker = new ThreadWorker();
System.out.println ("Starting worker");
worker.start();
System.out.println ("Worker started - telling it to wait");
try {
synchronized (lock) {
worker.wait();
}
} catch (InterruptedException e1) {
String msg = "InterruptedException: [" + e1.getLocalizedMessage() + "]";
System.out.println (msg);
e1.printStackTrace();
System.out.flush();
}
System.out.println ("Worker done waiting, we're now waiting for it by joining");
try {
worker.join();
} catch (InterruptedException ex) { }
}
In order to deal with the IllegalMonitorStateException, you must verify that all invocations of the wait, notify and notifyAll methods are taking place only when the calling thread owns the appropriate monitor. The most simple solution is to enclose these calls inside synchronized blocks. The synchronization object that shall be invoked in the synchronized statement is the one whose monitor must be acquired.
Here is the simple example for to understand the concept of monitor
public class SimpleMonitorState {
public static void main(String args[]) throws InterruptedException {
SimpleMonitorState t = new SimpleMonitorState();
SimpleRunnable m = new SimpleRunnable(t);
Thread t1 = new Thread(m);
t1.start();
t.call();
}
public void call() throws InterruptedException {
synchronized (this) {
wait();
System.out.println("Single by Threads ");
}
}
}
class SimpleRunnable implements Runnable {
SimpleMonitorState t;
SimpleRunnable(SimpleMonitorState t) {
this.t = t;
}
#Override
public void run() {
try {
// Sleep
Thread.sleep(10000);
synchronized (this.t) {
this.t.notify();
}
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Thread.wait() call make sense inside a code that synchronizes on Thread.class object. I don't think it's what you meant.
You ask
How can I make a thread wait until it will be notified?
You can make only your current thread wait. Any other thread can be only gently asked to wait, if it agree.
If you want to wait for some condition, you need a lock object - Thread.class object is a very bad choice - it is a singleton AFAIK so synchronizing on it (except for Thread static methods) is dangerous.
Details for synchronization and waiting are already explained by Tom Hawtin.
java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException means you are trying to wait on object on which you are not synchronized - it's illegal to do so.
Not sure if this will help somebody else out or not but this was the key part to fix my problem in user "Tom Hawtin - tacklin"'s answer above:
synchronized (lock) {
makeWakeupNeeded();
lock.notifyAll();
}
Just the fact that the "lock" is passed as an argument in synchronized() and it is also used in "lock".notifyAll();
Once I made it in those 2 places I got it working
I received a IllegalMonitorStateException while trying to wake up a thread in / from a different class / thread. In java 8 you can use the lock features of the new Concurrency API instead of synchronized functions.
I was already storing objects for asynchronous websocket transactions in a WeakHashMap. The solution in my case was to also store a lock object in a ConcurrentHashMap for synchronous replies. Note the condition.await (not .wait).
To handle the multi threading I used a Executors.newCachedThreadPool() to create a thread pool.
Those who are using Java 7.0 or below version can refer the code which I used here and it works.
public class WaitTest {
private final Lock lock = new ReentrantLock();
private final Condition condition = lock.newCondition();
public void waitHere(long waitTime) {
System.out.println("wait started...");
lock.lock();
try {
condition.await(waitTime, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
lock.unlock();
System.out.println("wait ends here...");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Your Code
new WaitTest().waitHere(10);
//Your Code
}
}
For calling wait()/notify() on object, it needs to be inside synchronized block. So first you have to take lock on object then would be possible to call these function.
synchronized(obj)
{
obj.wait()
}
For detailed explanation:
https://dzone.com/articles/multithreading-java-and-interviewspart-2
wait(), notify() and notifyAll() methods should only be called in syncronized contexts.
For example, in a syncronized block:
syncronized (obj) {
obj.wait();
}
Or, in a syncronized method:
syncronized static void myMethod() {
wait();
}
This question was asked to me in an interview. Before I had told him this,
Once a thread enters any synchronized method on an instance, no other
thread can enter any other synchronized method on the same instance.
Consider the snippet:
Q1:
public class Q1 {
int n;
boolean valueSet = false;
synchronized int get() {
while (!valueSet)
try {
wait();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
System.out.println("InterruptedException caught");
}
System.out.println("Got: " + n);
valueSet = false;
notify();
return n;
}
synchronized void put(int n) {
while (valueSet)
try {
wait();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
System.out.println("InterruptedException caught");
}
this.n = n;
valueSet = true;
System.out.println("Put: " + n);
notify();
}
}
Producer1:
public class Producer1 implements Runnable {
Q1 q;
Producer1(Q1 q) {
this.q = q;
new Thread(this, "Producer").start();
}
#Override
public void run() {
int i = 0;
while (true) {
q.put(i++);
}
}
}
Consumer1
public class Consumer1 implements Runnable {
Q1 q;
Consumer1(Q1 q) {
this.q = q;
new Thread(this, "Consumer").start();
}
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
q.get();
}
}
}
PC1:
public class PC1 {
public static void main(String args[]) {
Q1 q = new Q1();
new Producer1(q);
new Consumer1(q);
System.out.println("Press Control-C to stop.");
}
}
So, he asked as soon as you have created this thread new Producer1(q), then according to you, the synchronized int get() method must have been locked by the same thread, i.e, by new Producer1(q) when it accessed synchronized int put(). I said yes.
But I checked in eclipse, get is callable by new Consumer1(q). The program works perfect.
Where am I going wrong?
O/P:
The call to wait() will release the monitor for the time waiting.
That's what is documented for Object.wait():
The current thread must own this object's monitor. The thread
releases ownership of this monitor and waits until another thread
notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up
either through a call to the notify method or the
notifyAll method. The thread then waits until it can
re-obtain ownership of the monitor and resumes execution.
Once a thread enters any synchronized method on an instance, no other
thread can enter any other synchronized method on the same instance.
What you forgot to add here is "except if the lock is released".
...and it is the case in your example, when calling wait.
The documentation specify :
The thread releases ownership of this monitor and waits until another
thread notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up
either through a call to the notify method or the notifyAll method.
Since the lock is released, you step in the other method (and the condition is true because the boolean was modified). Once in the other method, you release the lock again, then call notify and you wake up the old thread which terminates (re-modify boolean to pass the condition in other method, and notify). That way you step between both methods ad-infinitum.
wait() and notify() is acts as a signal between threads, to control the threads to do or to not do the stuff.
The program works perfect because here 2 threads (Producer, Consumer) which fight for the one lock (monitor). When Consumer aquires the lock (Q1 object) then Producer is waiting for the lock. When Consumer finishes his work it release the lock. Consumer releases the lock also when wait() method has been called, because wait() sets thread to Waiting state with lock release. It's time for Producer to aquire the lock and does his work. When Producer thread notify() calls then Consumer continue his work (when aquired the lock). The same is right for Producer.
Resume: Q1 object is a lock for all threads. If it aquired someone then others are blocked and the answer is - it not possible to get an access at the same time to the get(), put() methods more then 2 threads.
I think that the question is ambiguous. (E.g., what does "accessible" mean?)
IMO, a good interview question should not have a right answer and a wrong answer. A good interview question should be a conversation starter, that gives you an opportunity to show how much you know about the subject.
When I am asking the interview questions, I like a candidate who can see through the question, and get down to the underlying mechanism. E.g.,
What the JLS guarantees is that no two threads can be _synchronized_
on the same instance at the same time...
Then we could explore questions like, how could two threads enter the same synchronized method at the same time? (e.g., synchronized on different instances), how could two threads be in the same synchronized method for the same instance at the same time (one of them could be in a wait() call), ...
A thread can not access a synchronized block of code unless it has aquired a lock on the object that guards the block. In your case, the synchronized keyword uses the lock of the object in which it has been declared. So as long as a thread is executing get(), no other thread can execute the put().
If you apply this, when put() sets the value, it notifies consumer which accepts the value. The code should work even after you have removed the wait() and notify() calls from both get and put methods
I have:
static public final ReentrantLock lock = new ReentrantLock();
static public Condition my_condition = lock.newCondition();
in myClass_1 and in myClass_2 class I call:
synchronized (myClass_1.my_condition){
myClass_1.my_condition.signalAll();
}
This is giving me the java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException. I am already synchronizing over the signall() call. What could be causing it?
This is because you are not getting the lock of ReentrantLock before signalling.
Read below important statements from ReentrantLock#newCondition
If this lock is not held when any of the Condition waiting or
signalling methods are called, then an IllegalMonitorStateException is
thrown.
Also, read below from Condition. Now, like you cannot call wait() if thread is not acquiring the lock, same you wait or signal conditions if lock is not acquired.
Where a Lock replaces the use of synchronized methods and statements,
a Condition replaces the use of the Object monitor methods.
Bottom line: Acquire the lock before waiting or signalling the Condition.
lock.lock(); //Get the lock
while(/* whatever is your condition in myClass_1 and myClass_2 */){ //Or negative condition you want, but some code logic condition...
my_condition.await();
}
my_condition_2.signal(); //If you want to notify one thread. Like in case of Java's blocking queue, if you want to notify one thread to put or take.
my_condition_2.signalAll(); //If you want to notify all threads.
Do not use synchronized with Locks. Locks and Conditions replace synchronized/wait/notify; they should never be used in combination with it.
The documentation for ReeantrantLock.newCondition states:
If this lock is not held when any of the Condition waiting or signalling methods are called, then an IllegalMonitorStateException is thrown.
Correct use of a Lock and Condition looks like this:
lock.lock();
try {
someFlag = true;
condition.signalAll();
} finally {
lock.unlock();
}
And elsewhere:
lock.lock();
try {
someFlag = false;
while (!someFlag) {
condition.await();
}
} finally {
lock.unlock();
}
All Condition.await* methods must be called in a while-loop that checks the data the Condition represents, since the await* methods are subject to spurious wakeups (just like the Object.wait* methods).
This code snippet from java concurrency in practice, I really don't understand.
#ThreadSafe
public class BoundedBuffer<V> extends BaseBoundedBuffer<V> {
// CONDITION PREDICATE: not-full (!isFull())
// CONDITION PREDICATE: not-empty (!isEmpty())
public BoundedBuffer(int size) { super(size); }
// BLOCKS-UNTIL: not-full
public synchronized void put(V v) throws InterruptedException {
while (isFull())
wait();
doPut(v);
notifyAll();
}
// BLOCKS-UNTIL: not-empty
public dsynchronize V take() throws InterruptedException {
while (isEmpty())
wait();
V v = doTake();
notifyAll();
return v;
}
}
the put and take methods are synchronized. If some thread is waiting in put method, no one can ever enter take or put method, So, in most of the cases, if a thread start to wait, it will wait for ever.
Am I miss-understand something?
It is synchronized but the wait() method released the lock if it waits -- that's how it works. The thread then blocks until it is notified. Once notified, it reacquires the lock and continues. To quote the Object.wait() javadocs:
Causes the current thread to wait until another thread invokes the java.lang.Object.notify() method or the java.lang.Object.notifyAll() method for this object. In other words, this method behaves exactly as if it simply performs the call wait(0).
The current thread must own this object's monitor. The thread releases ownership of this monitor and waits until another thread notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up either through a call to the notify method or the notifyAll method. The thread then waits until it can re-obtain ownership of the monitor and resumes execution.
I'd recommend doing some more reading about Java concurrency, specifically this section on guarded blocked.
It is more typical to specify specifically which object you are waiting and notifying. The wait() call really should be this.wait() and this.notifyAll() which makes it easier to be able to figure out which lock is being affected.
I wrote this program to check if a thread t1 holding lock on two different objects :
Lock.class and MyThread.class goes into waiting mode on MyThread.class instance using MyThread.class.wait().It does not release lock on Lock.class instance. why so ? I have been thinking that once a thread goes into wait mode or it dies it releases all the acquired locks.
public class Lock {
protected static volatile boolean STOP = true;
public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
MyThread myThread = new MyThread();
Thread t1 = new Thread(myThread);
t1.start();
while(STOP){
}
System.out.println("After while loop");
/*
*
*/
Thread.sleep(1000*60*2);
/*
* Main thread should be Blocked.
*/
System.out.println("now calling Check()-> perhaps i would be blocked. t1 is holding lock on class instance.");
check();
}
public static synchronized void check(){
System.out.println("inside Lock.check()");
String threadName = Thread.currentThread().getName();
System.out.println("inside Lock.Check() method : CurrrentThreadName : "+ threadName);
}
}
class MyThread implements Runnable{
public MyThread() {
}
#Override
public void run() {
try {
System.out.println("inside Mythread's run()");
classLocking();
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static synchronized void classLocking() throws InterruptedException{
System.out.println("inside Mythread.classLocking()");
String threadName = Thread.currentThread().getName();
System.out.println("inside MyThread.classLocking() : CurrrentThreadName : "+ threadName);
/*
* outer class locking
*/
synchronized (Lock.class) {
System.out.println("I got lock on Lock.class definition");
Lock.STOP = false;
/*
* Outer class lock is not released. Lock on MyThread.class instance is released.
*/
MyThread.class.wait();
}
}
}
You are correct that it doesn't release the other lock. As for why, it's because it isn't safe to do so. If it was safe to release the outer lock during the call to the inner function, why would the inner function be called with the other lock held at all?
Having a function release a lock it didn't acquire behind the programmer's back would destroy the logic of synchronized functions.
Yes it is working correctly. A thread goes into waiting status releases the corresponding lock instead of all locks. Otherwise think about that: if things are like what you thought, then when a thread waits it loses all the acquired locks, which makes advanced sequential execution impossible.
The semantics of wait() is that the Thread invoking it notices that a lock was already acquired by another thread, gets suspended and waits to be notified by the thread holding the lock when the latter one releases it (and invokes notify). It doesn't mean that while waiting it releases all the locks acquired. You can see the wait's invocations as a number of barriers the thread meets on the way to acquiring all the locks it needs to accomplish an action.
Regarding the question "Why a thread doesn't release all the locks acquired when invoking wait" , I think the answer is that, doing so would make it more prone to starvation and it would also slow down the progress in a multithreaded application (All threads would give up all their locks when invoking the first wait and would have to start over when they acquire the lock they are currently waiting for. So, they would be in a permanent battle for locks.
Actually, in such a system, the only thread able to finish execution would be the one which manages to find all locks free when it needs them. This is unlikely to happen)
From JavaDoc of method wait()
The current thread must own this object's monitor. The thread releases ownership of this monitor and waits until another thread notifies threads waiting on this object's monitor to wake up either through a call to the notify method or the notifyAll method. The thread then waits until it can re-obtain ownership of the monitor and resumes execution.