pub struct Mutex<T: ?Sized> { /* private fields */ }
sync
only.Expand description
An asynchronous Mutex
-like type.
This type acts similarly to std::sync::Mutex
, with two major
differences: lock
is an async method so does not block, and the lock
guard is designed to be held across .await
points.
Which kind of mutex should you use?
Contrary to popular belief, it is ok and often preferred to use the ordinary
Mutex
from the standard library in asynchronous code.
The feature that the async mutex offers over the blocking mutex is the
ability to keep it locked across an .await
point. This makes the async
mutex more expensive than the blocking mutex, so the blocking mutex should
be preferred in the cases where it can be used. The primary use case for the
async mutex is to provide shared mutable access to IO resources such as a
database connection. If the value behind the mutex is just data, it’s
usually appropriate to use a blocking mutex such as the one in the standard
library or parking_lot
.
Note that, although the compiler will not prevent the std Mutex
from holding
its guard across .await
points in situations where the task is not movable
between threads, this virtually never leads to correct concurrent code in
practice as it can easily lead to deadlocks.
A common pattern is to wrap the Arc<Mutex<...>>
in a struct that provides
non-async methods for performing operations on the data within, and only
lock the mutex inside these methods. The mini-redis example provides an
illustration of this pattern.
Additionally, when you do want shared access to an IO resource, it is often better to spawn a task to manage the IO resource, and to use message passing to communicate with that task.
Examples:
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
use std::sync::Arc;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let data1 = Arc::new(Mutex::new(0));
let data2 = Arc::clone(&data1);
tokio::spawn(async move {
let mut lock = data2.lock().await;
*lock += 1;
});
let mut lock = data1.lock().await;
*lock += 1;
}
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
use std::sync::Arc;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let count = Arc::new(Mutex::new(0));
for i in 0..5 {
let my_count = Arc::clone(&count);
tokio::spawn(async move {
for j in 0..10 {
let mut lock = my_count.lock().await;
*lock += 1;
println!("{} {} {}", i, j, lock);
}
});
}
loop {
if *count.lock().await >= 50 {
break;
}
}
println!("Count hit 50.");
}
There are a few things of note here to pay attention to in this example.
- The mutex is wrapped in an
Arc
to allow it to be shared across threads. - Each spawned task obtains a lock and releases it on every iteration.
- Mutation of the data protected by the Mutex is done by de-referencing the obtained lock as seen on lines 12 and 19.
Tokio’s Mutex works in a simple FIFO (first in, first out) style where all
calls to lock
complete in the order they were performed. In that way the
Mutex is “fair” and predictable in how it distributes the locks to inner
data. Locks are released and reacquired after every iteration, so basically,
each thread goes to the back of the line after it increments the value once.
Note that there’s some unpredictability to the timing between when the
threads are started, but once they are going they alternate predictably.
Finally, since there is only a single valid lock at any given time, there is
no possibility of a race condition when mutating the inner value.
Note that in contrast to std::sync::Mutex
, this implementation does not
poison the mutex when a thread holding the MutexGuard
panics. In such a
case, the mutex will be unlocked. If the panic is caught, this might leave
the data protected by the mutex in an inconsistent state.
Implementations
Creates a new lock in an unlocked state ready for use.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
let lock = Mutex::new(5);
This is supported on crate feature parking_lot
only.
parking_lot
only.Creates a new lock in an unlocked state ready for use.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
static LOCK: Mutex<i32> = Mutex::const_new(5);
Locks this mutex, causing the current task to yield until the lock has
been acquired. When the lock has been acquired, function returns a
MutexGuard
.
Cancel safety
This method uses a queue to fairly distribute locks in the order they
were requested. Cancelling a call to lock
makes you lose your place in
the queue.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let mutex = Mutex::new(1);
let mut n = mutex.lock().await;
*n = 2;
}
Blocking lock this mutex. When the lock has been acquired, function returns a
MutexGuard
.
This method is intended for use cases where you need to use this mutex in asynchronous code as well as in synchronous code.
Examples
use std::sync::Arc;
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let mutex = Arc::new(Mutex::new(1));
let mutex1 = Arc::clone(&mutex);
let sync_code = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
let mut n = mutex1.blocking_lock();
*n = 2;
});
sync_code.await.unwrap();
let n = mutex.lock().await;
assert_eq!(*n, 2);
}
Locks this mutex, causing the current task to yield until the lock has
been acquired. When the lock has been acquired, this returns an
OwnedMutexGuard
.
This method is identical to Mutex::lock
, except that the returned
guard references the Mutex
with an Arc
rather than by borrowing
it. Therefore, the Mutex
must be wrapped in an Arc
to call this
method, and the guard will live for the 'static
lifetime, as it keeps
the Mutex
alive by holding an Arc
.
Cancel safety
This method uses a queue to fairly distribute locks in the order they
were requested. Cancelling a call to lock_owned
makes you lose your
place in the queue.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
use std::sync::Arc;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let mutex = Arc::new(Mutex::new(1));
let mut n = mutex.clone().lock_owned().await;
*n = 2;
}
Attempts to acquire the lock, and returns TryLockError
if the
lock is currently held somewhere else.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
let mutex = Mutex::new(1);
let n = mutex.try_lock()?;
assert_eq!(*n, 1);
Returns a mutable reference to the underlying data.
Since this call borrows the Mutex
mutably, no actual locking needs to
take place – the mutable borrow statically guarantees no locks exist.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
fn main() {
let mut mutex = Mutex::new(1);
let n = mutex.get_mut();
*n = 2;
}
Attempts to acquire the lock, and returns TryLockError
if the lock
is currently held somewhere else.
This method is identical to Mutex::try_lock
, except that the
returned guard references the Mutex
with an Arc
rather than by
borrowing it. Therefore, the Mutex
must be wrapped in an Arc
to call
this method, and the guard will live for the 'static
lifetime, as it
keeps the Mutex
alive by holding an Arc
.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
use std::sync::Arc;
let mutex = Arc::new(Mutex::new(1));
let n = mutex.clone().try_lock_owned()?;
assert_eq!(*n, 1);
Consumes the mutex, returning the underlying data.
Examples
use tokio::sync::Mutex;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let mutex = Mutex::new(1);
let n = mutex.into_inner();
assert_eq!(n, 1);
}