Example for boost shared_mutex (multiple reads/one write)?

Question

I have a multithreaded app that has to read some data often, and occasionally that data is updated. Right now a mutex keeps access to that data safe, but it\'s expensive bec

Answer 1

1800 INFORMATION is more or less correct, but there are a few issues I wanted to correct.

boost::shared_mutex _access;
void reader()
{
  boost::shared_lock< boost::shared_mutex > lock(_access);
  // do work here, without anyone having exclusive access
}

void conditional_writer()
{
  boost::upgrade_lock< boost::shared_mutex > lock(_access);
  // do work here, without anyone having exclusive access

  if (something) {
    boost::upgrade_to_unique_lock< boost::shared_mutex > uniqueLock(lock);
    // do work here, but now you have exclusive access
  }

  // do more work here, without anyone having exclusive access
}

void unconditional_writer()
{
  boost::unique_lock< boost::shared_mutex > lock(_access);
  // do work here, with exclusive access
}

Also Note, unlike a shared_lock, only a single thread can acquire an upgrade_lock at one time, even when it isn't upgraded (which I thought was awkward when I ran into it). So, if all your readers are conditional writers, you need to find another solution.