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I've been playing with collections and threading and came across the nifty extension methods people have created to ease the use of ReaderWriterLockSlim by allowing the IDisposable pattern.
However, I believe I have come to realize that something in the implementation is a performance killer. I realize that extension methods are not supposed to really impact performance, so I am left assuming that something in the implementation is the cause... the amount of Disposable structs created/collected?
Here's some test code:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Threading;
using System.Diagnostics;
namespace LockPlay {
static class RWLSExtension {
struct Disposable : IDisposable {
readonly Action _action;
public Disposable(Action action) {
_action = action;
}
public void Dispose() {
_action();
}
} // end struct
public static IDisposable ReadLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim rwls) {
rwls.EnterReadLock();
return new Disposable(rwls.ExitReadLock);
}
public static IDisposable UpgradableReadLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim rwls) {
rwls.EnterUpgradeableReadLock();
return new Disposable(rwls.ExitUpgradeableReadLock);
}
public static IDisposable WriteLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim rwls) {
rwls.EnterWriteLock();
return new Disposable(rwls.ExitWriteLock);
}
} // end class
class Program {
class MonitorList<T> : List<T>, IList<T> {
object _syncLock = new object();
public MonitorList(IEnumerable<T> collection) : base(collection) { }
T IList<T>.this[int index] {
get {
lock(_syncLock)
return base[index];
}
set {
lock(_syncLock)
base[index] = value;
}
}
} // end class
class RWLSList<T> : List<T>, IList<T> {
ReaderWriterLockSlim _rwls = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
public RWLSList(IEnumerable<T> collection) : base(collection) { }
T IList<T>.this[int index] {
get {
try {
_rwls.EnterReadLock();
return base[index];
} finally {
_rwls.ExitReadLock();
}
}
set {
try {
_rwls.EnterWriteLock();
base[index] = value;
} finally {
_rwls.ExitWriteLock();
}
}
}
} // end class
class RWLSExtList<T> : List<T>, IList<T> {
ReaderWriterLockSlim _rwls = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
public RWLSExtList(IEnumerable<T> collection) : base(collection) { }
T IList<T>.this[int index] {
get {
using(_rwls.ReadLock())
return base[index];
}
set {
using(_rwls.WriteLock())
base[index] = value;
}
}
} // end class
static void Main(string[] args) {
const int ITERATIONS = 100;
const int WORK = 10000;
const int WRITE_THREADS = 4;
const int READ_THREADS = WRITE_THREADS * 3;
// create data - first List is for comparison only... not thread safe
int[] copy = new int[WORK];
IList<int>[] l = { new List<int>(copy), new MonitorList<int>(copy), new RWLSList<int>(copy), new RWLSExtList<int>(copy) };
// test each list
Thread[] writeThreads = new Thread[WRITE_THREADS];
Thread[] readThreads = new Thread[READ_THREADS];
foreach(var list in l) {
Stopwatch sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
for(int k=0; k < ITERATIONS; k++) {
for(int i = 0; i < writeThreads.Length; i++) {
writeThreads[i] = new Thread(p => {
IList<int> il = p as IList<int>;
int c = il.Count;
for(int j = 0; j < c; j++) {
il[j] = j;
}
});
writeThreads[i].Start(list);
}
for(int i = 0; i < readThreads.Length; i++) {
readThreads[i] = new Thread(p => {
IList<int> il = p as IList<int>;
int c = il.Count;
for(int j = 0; j < c; j++) {
int temp = il[j];
}
});
readThreads[i].Start(list);
}
for(int i = 0; i < readThreads.Length; i++)
readThreads[i].Join();
for(int i = 0; i < writeThreads.Length; i++)
writeThreads[i].Join();
};
sw.Stop();
Console.WriteLine("time: {0} class: {1}", sw.Elapsed, list.GetType());
}
Console.WriteLine("DONE");
Console.ReadLine();
}
} // end class
} // end namespace
Here's a typical result:
time: 00:00:03.0965242 class: System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.Int32] time: 00:00:11.9194573 class: LockPlay.Program+MonitorList`1[System.Int32] time: 00:00:08.9510258 class: LockPlay.Program+RWLSList`1[System.Int32] time: 00:00:16.9888435 class: LockPlay.Program+RWLSExtList`1[System.Int32] DONE
As you can see, using the extensions actually makes the performance WORSE than just using lock (monitor).
465
Looks like its the price of instantiating millions of structs and the extra bit of invocations.
I would go as far as to say that the ReaderWriterLockSlim is being misused in this sample, a lock is good enough in this case and the performance edge you get with the ReaderWriterLockSlim is negligible compared to the price of explaining these concepts to junior devs.
You get a huge advantage with reader writer style locks when it takes a non-negligable amount of time to perform reads and writes. The boost will be biggest when you have a predominantly read based system.
Try inserting a Thread.Sleep(1) while the locks are acquired to see how huge a difference it makes.
See this benchmark:
Time for Test.SynchronizedList`1[System.Int32] Time Elapsed 12310 ms Time for Test.ReaderWriterLockedList`1[System.Int32] Time Elapsed 547 ms Time for Test.ManualReaderWriterLockedList`1[System.Int32] Time Elapsed 566 ms
In my benchmarking I do not really notice much of a difference between the two styles, I would feel comfortable using it provided it had some finalizer protection in case people forget to dispose ....
using System.Threading;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System;
using System.Linq;
namespace Test {
static class RWLSExtension {
struct Disposable : IDisposable {
readonly Action _action;
public Disposable(Action action) {
_action = action;
}
public void Dispose() {
_action();
}
}
public static IDisposable ReadLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim rwls) {
rwls.EnterReadLock();
return new Disposable(rwls.ExitReadLock);
}
public static IDisposable UpgradableReadLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim rwls) {
rwls.EnterUpgradeableReadLock();
return new Disposable(rwls.ExitUpgradeableReadLock);
}
public static IDisposable WriteLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim rwls) {
rwls.EnterWriteLock();
return new Disposable(rwls.ExitWriteLock);
}
}
class SlowList<T> {
List<T> baseList = new List<T>();
public void AddRange(IEnumerable<T> items) {
baseList.AddRange(items);
}
public virtual T this[int index] {
get {
Thread.Sleep(1);
return baseList[index];
}
set {
baseList[index] = value;
Thread.Sleep(1);
}
}
}
class SynchronizedList<T> : SlowList<T> {
object sync = new object();
public override T this[int index] {
get {
lock (sync) {
return base[index];
}
}
set {
lock (sync) {
base[index] = value;
}
}
}
}
class ManualReaderWriterLockedList<T> : SlowList<T> {
ReaderWriterLockSlim slimLock = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
public override T this[int index] {
get {
T item;
try {
slimLock.EnterReadLock();
item = base[index];
} finally {
slimLock.ExitReadLock();
}
return item;
}
set {
try {
slimLock.EnterWriteLock();
base[index] = value;
} finally {
slimLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}
}
}
class ReaderWriterLockedList<T> : SlowList<T> {
ReaderWriterLockSlim slimLock = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
public override T this[int index] {
get {
using (slimLock.ReadLock()) {
return base[index];
}
}
set {
using (slimLock.WriteLock()) {
base[index] = value;
}
}
}
}
class Program {
private static void Repeat(int times, int asyncThreads, Action action) {
if (asyncThreads > 0) {
var threads = new List<Thread>();
for (int i = 0; i < asyncThreads; i++) {
int iterations = times / asyncThreads;
if (i == 0) {
iterations += times % asyncThreads;
}
Thread thread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(() => Repeat(iterations, 0, action)));
thread.Start();
threads.Add(thread);
}
foreach (var thread in threads) {
thread.Join();
}
} else {
for (int i = 0; i < times; i++) {
action();
}
}
}
static void TimeAction(string description, Action func) {
var watch = new Stopwatch();
watch.Start();
func();
watch.Stop();
Console.Write(description);
Console.WriteLine(" Time Elapsed {0} ms", watch.ElapsedMilliseconds);
}
static void Main(string[] args) {
int threadCount = 40;
int iterations = 200;
int readToWriteRatio = 60;
var baseList = Enumerable.Range(0, 10000).ToList();
List<SlowList<int>> lists = new List<SlowList<int>>() {
new SynchronizedList<int>() ,
new ReaderWriterLockedList<int>(),
new ManualReaderWriterLockedList<int>()
};
foreach (var list in lists) {
list.AddRange(baseList);
}
foreach (var list in lists) {
TimeAction("Time for " + list.GetType().ToString(), () =>
{
Repeat(iterations, threadCount, () =>
{
list[100] = 99;
for (int i = 0; i < readToWriteRatio; i++) {
int ignore = list[i];
}
});
});
}
Console.WriteLine("DONE");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
The code appears to use a struct to avoid object creation overhead, but doesn't take the other necessary steps to keep this lightweight. I believe it boxes the return value from ReadLock, and if so negates the entire advantage of the struct. This should fix all the issues and perform just as well as not going through the IDisposable interface.
Edit: Benchmarks demanded. These results are normalized so the manual method (call Enter/ExitReadLock and Enter/ExitWriteLock inline with the protected code) have a time value of 1.00. The original method is slow because it allocates objects on the heap that the manual method does not. I fixed this problem, and in release mode even the extension method call overhead goes away leaving it identically as fast as the manual method.
Debug Build:
Manual: 1.00
Original Extensions: 1.62
My Extensions: 1.24
Release Build:
Manual: 1.00
Original Extensions: 1.51
My Extensions: 1.00
My code:
internal static class RWLSExtension
{
public static ReadLockHelper ReadLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock)
{
return new ReadLockHelper(readerWriterLock);
}
public static UpgradeableReadLockHelper UpgradableReadLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock)
{
return new UpgradeableReadLockHelper(readerWriterLock);
}
public static WriteLockHelper WriteLock(this ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock)
{
return new WriteLockHelper(readerWriterLock);
}
public struct ReadLockHelper : IDisposable
{
private readonly ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock;
public ReadLockHelper(ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock)
{
readerWriterLock.EnterReadLock();
this.readerWriterLock = readerWriterLock;
}
public void Dispose()
{
this.readerWriterLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}
public struct UpgradeableReadLockHelper : IDisposable
{
private readonly ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock;
public UpgradeableReadLockHelper(ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock)
{
readerWriterLock.EnterUpgradeableReadLock();
this.readerWriterLock = readerWriterLock;
}
public void Dispose()
{
this.readerWriterLock.ExitUpgradeableReadLock();
}
}
public struct WriteLockHelper : IDisposable
{
private readonly ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock;
public WriteLockHelper(ReaderWriterLockSlim readerWriterLock)
{
readerWriterLock.EnterWriteLock();
this.readerWriterLock = readerWriterLock;
}
public void Dispose()
{
this.readerWriterLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}
}
My guess (you would need to profile to verify) is that the performance drop isn't from creating the Disposable instances (they should be fairly cheap, being structs). Instead I expect it's from creating the Action delegates. You could try changing the implementation of your Disposable struct to store the instance of ReaderWriterLockSlim instead of creating an Action delegate.
Edit: @280Z28's post confirms that it's the heap allocation of Action delegates that's causing the slowdown.
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