CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++multithreadingc++11locking
Mendes
Mendes

Reputation: 18461

C++ What are the differences between std::lock and std::unique_lock?

I came into a situation where I need to lock a resource (a std::queue) between two processing threads.

The first thread needs to push data to std::queue, while the second thread is going to pop that data out of the queue and process it.

I need to make sure both threads will not compete for my std::queue.

As this is my first time using C++ locks, I came into different approaches: std::lock and std::unique_lock, but I don´t know which one to choose...

What is the difference between std::lock and std::unique_lock and how they should be used.

Thanks for helping.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 323

Answers (1)

Kerrek SB
Kerrek SB

Reputation: 477100

std::lock is an algorithm that locks a collection of lockable objects all at once in a specific way that avoids deadlocks.

std::unique_lock is a class template that wraps a mutex and can be used as a scoped lock guard, similar to std::lock_guard, but more powerful than the latter (it is itself lockable, can be unlocked early and can be moved around).

You probably want neither of those, but instead just use the good old std::lock_guard.

Upvotes: 6

Related Questions