CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netmultithreadingmemory-barriers
V.B.
V.B.

Reputation: 6382

.NET Volatile.Read/Write and Interlocked scope

I have read the threading manual and relevant MSDN pages and SO questions several times. Still, I do not completely understand if Volatile.Read/Write and interlocked operations apply only to the relevant variables, or all read/writes before/after that operations.

E.g., imagine I have an array and a counter.

long counter = 0;
var values = new double[1000000];

values[42] = 3.1415;
// Is this line needed instead of simple assignment above,
// or the implicit full-fence of Interlocked will guarantee that 
// all threads will see the values[42] after interlocked increment?
//Volatile.Write(ref values[42], 3.1415);
Interlocked.Increment(ref counter);

Does interlocked increment guarantees the same result as if I used Volatile.Write(ref values[42], 3.1415); instead of values[42] = 3.1415;.

What if I have an array of reference types, e.g. some POCO, and set an instance fields before interlocked increment. Does the implicit full fence apply to all read/writes from that thread before it, or only to the counter?

I am implementing a scalable reader/writer scheme and I found the following statement in the Joe Duffy post:

If the variables protected are references to heap objects, you need to worry about using the read protection each time you touch a field. Just like locks, this technique doesn’t compose. As with anything other than simple locking, use this technique with great care and caution; although the built-in acquire and release fences shield you from memory model reordering issues, there are some easy traps you can fall into.

Is this just a general statement to discourage using low-lock constructs, or somehow applies to the example above?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 865

Answers (1)

keith
keith

Reputation: 5332

What you are probably missing is an understanding of fences. This is the best resource to read up on them: http://www.albahari.com/threading/part4.aspx

The short answer is Interlocked.Increment issues a full fence which is independent of the variable it is updating. I believe Volatile.Write issues a half fence. A half fence can be constructed from Thread.MemoryBarrier. When we say Interlocked.Increment issues a full fence it means that Thread.MemoryBarrier is called before and after the operation. Volatile.Write calls Thread.MemoryBarrier before the write and Volatile.Read after. The fences determine when memory access can be reordered (and it's not variable specific as Thread.MemoryBarrier is parameterless).

Upvotes: 4

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