Following problem: I have a function that only should allow one caller to execute. If someone tries to call the function and it is already busy the second caller should immediatly return with an error.
I tried the following:
1. Use a mutex
Would be pretty easy. But the problem is, you cannot check if a mutex is locked. You can only block on it. Therefore it does not work
2. Wait on a channel
var canExec = make(chan bool, 1)
func init() {
canExec <- true
}
func onlyOne() error {
select {
case <-canExec:
default:
return errors.New("already busy")
}
defer func() {
fmt.Println("done")
canExec <- true
}()
// do stuff
}
What I don't like here:
3. Mixture of mutex and shared state
var open = true
var myMutex *sync.Mutex
func canExec() bool {
myMutex.Lock()
defer myMutex.Unlock()
if open {
open = false
return true
}
return false
}
func endExec() {
myMutex.Lock()
defer myMutex.Unlock()
open = true
}
func onlyOne() error {
if !canExec() {
return errors.New("busy")
}
defer endExec()
// do stuff
return nil
}
I don't like this either. Using a shard variable with mutex is not that nice.
Any other idea?
You can use a semaphore for this (go get golang.org/x/sync/semaphore)
package main
import (
"errors"
"fmt"
"sync"
"time"
"golang.org/x/sync/semaphore"
)
var sem = semaphore.NewWeighted(1)
func main() {
var wg sync.WaitGroup
for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
wg.Add(1)
go func() {
defer wg.Done()
if err := onlyOne(); err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
}
}()
time.Sleep(time.Second)
}
wg.Wait()
}
func onlyOne() error {
if !sem.TryAcquire(1) {
return errors.New("busy")
}
defer sem.Release(1)
fmt.Println("working")
time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
return nil
}
You could use standard channel approach with select statement.
var (
ch = make(chan bool)
)
func main() {
i := 0
wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
for i < 100 {
i++
wg.Add(1)
go func() {
defer wg.Done()
err := onlyOne()
if err != nil {
fmt.Println("Error: ", err)
} else {
fmt.Println("Ok")
}
}()
go func() {
ch <- true
}()
}
wg.Wait()
}
func onlyOne() error {
select {
case <-ch:
// do stuff
return nil
default:
return errors.New("Busy")
}
}
Do you want a function to be executed exactly once or once at given time? In former case take a look at https://golang.org/pkg/sync/#Once.
If you want once at a time solution:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"sync"
"time"
)
// OnceAtATime protects function from being executed simultaneously.
// Example:
// func myFunc() { time.Sleep(10*time.Second) }
// func main() {
// once := OnceAtATime{}
// once.Do(myFunc)
// once.Do(myFunc) // not executed
// }
type OnceAtATime struct {
m sync.Mutex
executed bool
}
func (o *OnceAtATime) Do(f func()) {
o.m.Lock()
if o.executed {
o.m.Unlock()
return
}
o.executed = true
o.m.Unlock()
f()
o.m.Lock()
o.executed = false
o.m.Unlock()
}
// Proof of concept
func f(m int, done chan<- struct{}) {
for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
fmt.Printf("%d: %d
", m, i)
time.Sleep(250 * time.Millisecond)
}
close(done)
}
func main() {
done := make(chan struct{})
once := OnceAtATime{}
go once.Do(func() { f(1, done) })
go once.Do(func() { f(2, done) })
<-done
done = make(chan struct{})
go once.Do(func() { f(3, done) })
<-done
}
I came up with the following generic solution for that:
Works for me, or do you see any problem with that?
import (
"sync"
)
const (
ONLYONECALLER_LOCK = "onlyonecaller"
ANOTHER_LOCK = "onlyonecaller"
)
var locks = map[string]bool{}
var mutex = &sync.Mutex{}
func Lock(lock string) bool {
mutex.Lock()
defer mutex.Unlock()
locked, ok := locks[lock]
if !ok {
locks[lock] = true
return true
}
if locked {
return false
}
locks[lock] = true
return true
}
func IsLocked(lock string) bool {
mutex.Lock()
defer mutex.Unlock()
locked, ok := locks[lock]
if !ok {
return false
}
return locked
}
func Unlock(lock string) {
mutex.Lock()
defer mutex.Unlock()
locked, ok := locks[lock]
if !ok {
return
}
if !locked {
return
}
locks[lock] = false
}
I'll throw my preference out there - use the atomic package.
var (
locker uint32
errLocked = errors.New("Locked out buddy")
)
func OneAtATime(d time.Duration) error {
if !atomic.CompareAndSwapUint32(&locker, 0, 1) { // <-----------------------------
return errLocked // All logic in these |
} // four lines |
defer atomic.StoreUint32(&locker, 0) // <-----------------------------
// logic here, but we will sleep
time.Sleep(d)
return nil
}
The idea is pretty simple. Set the initial value to 0 (0 value of uint32). The first thing you do in the function is check if the value of locker is currently 0 and if so it changes it to 1. It does all of this atomically. If it fails simply return an error (or however else you like to handle a locked state). If successful, you immediately defer replacing the value (now 1) with 0. You don't have to use defer obviously, but failing to set the value back to 0 before returning would leave you in a state where the function could no longer be run.
After you do those 4 lines of setup, you do whatever you would normally.
https://play.golang.org/p/riryVJM4Qf
You can make things a little nicer if desired by using named values for your states.
const (
stateUnlocked uint32 = iota
stateLocked
)
var (
locker = stateUnlocked
errLocked = errors.New("Locked out buddy")
)
func OneAtATime(d time.Duration) error {
if !atomic.CompareAndSwapUint32(&locker, stateUnlocked, stateLocked) {
return errLocked
}
defer atomic.StoreUint32(&locker, stateUnlocked)
// logic here, but we will sleep
time.Sleep(d)
return nil
}