What is a Singleton and when should I use it?
A singleton is a class which only allows one instance of itself to be created - and gives simple, easy access to said instance. The singleton premise is a pattern across software development.
There is a C# implementation "Implementing the Singleton Pattern in C#" covering most of what you need to know - including some good advice regarding thread safety.
To be honest, It's very rare that you need to implement a singleton - in my opinion it should be one of those things you should be aware of, even if it's not used too often.
You asked for C#. Trivial example:
public class Singleton
{
private Singleton()
{
// Prevent outside instantiation
}
private static readonly Singleton _singleton = new Singleton();
public static Singleton GetSingleton()
{
return _singleton;
}
}
What it is: A class for which there is just one, persistent instance across the lifetime of an application. See Singleton Pattern.
When you should use it: As little as possible. Only when you are absolutely certain that you need it. I'm reluctant to say "never", but there is usually a better alternative, such as Dependency Injection or simply a static class.
another way to implement singleton in c#, i personally prefer this way because you can access the instance of the singeton class as a property instead of a method.
public class Singleton
{
private static Singleton instance;
private Singleton() { }
public static Singleton Instance
{
get
{
if (instance == null)
instance = new Singleton();
return instance;
}
}
//instance methods
}
but well, as far as i know both ways are considered 'right' so it's just a thing of personal flavor.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class MainApp
{
static void Main()
{
LoadBalancer oldbalancer = null;
for (int i = 0; i < 15; i++)
{
LoadBalancer balancerNew = LoadBalancer.GetLoadBalancer();
if (oldbalancer == balancerNew && oldbalancer != null)
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} SameInstance {1}", oldbalancer.Server, balancerNew.Server);
}
oldbalancer = balancerNew;
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
class LoadBalancer
{
private static LoadBalancer _instance;
private List<string> _servers = new List<string>();
private Random _random = new Random();
private static object syncLock = new object();
private LoadBalancer()
{
_servers.Add("ServerI");
_servers.Add("ServerII");
_servers.Add("ServerIII");
_servers.Add("ServerIV");
_servers.Add("ServerV");
}
public static LoadBalancer GetLoadBalancer()
{
if (_instance == null)
{
lock (syncLock)
{
if (_instance == null)
{
_instance = new LoadBalancer();
}
}
}
return _instance;
}
public string Server
{
get
{
int r = _random.Next(_servers.Count);
return _servers[r].ToString();
}
}
}
I took code from dofactory.com, nothing so fancy but I find this far good than examples with Foo and Bar additionally book from Judith Bishop on C# 3.0 Design Patterns has example about active application in mac dock.
If you look at code we are actually building new objects on for loop, so that creates new object but reuses instance as a result of which the oldbalancer and newbalancer has same instance, How? its due to static keyword used on function GetLoadBalancer(), despite of having different server value which is random list, static on GetLoadBalancer() belongs to the type itself rather than to a specific object.
Additionally there is double check locking here
if (_instance == null)
{
lock (syncLock)
{
if (_instance == null)
since from MSDN
The lock keyword ensures that one thread does not enter a critical section of code while another thread is in the critical section. If another thread tries to enter a locked code, it will wait, block, until the object is released.
so every-time mutual-exclusion lock is issued, even if it don't need to which is unnecessary so we have null check.
Hopefully it helps in clearing more.
And please comment if I my understanding is directing wrong ways.
A Singleton (and this isn't tied to C#, it's an OO design pattern) is when you want to allow only ONE instance of a class to be created throughout your application. Useages would typically include global resources, although I will say from personal experience, they're very often the source of great pain.
Whilst the there can only ever be one instance of a singleton, it is not the same as a static class. A static class can only contain static methods and can never be instantiated, whereas the instance of a singleton may be used in the same way as any other object.
It's a design pattern and it's not specific to c#. More about it all over the internet and SO, like on this wikipedia article.
In software engineering, the singleton
pattern is a design pattern that is
used to restrict instantiation of a
class to one object. This is useful
when exactly one object is needed to
coordinate actions across the system.
The concept is sometimes generalized
to systems that operate more
efficiently when only one object
exists, or that restrict the
instantiation to a certain number of
objects (say, five). Some consider it
an anti-pattern, judging that it is
overused, introduces unnecessary
limitations in situations where a sole
instance of a class is not actually
required, and introduces global state
into an application.
You should use it if you want a class that can only be instanciated once.
I use it for lookup data. Load once from DB.
public sealed class APILookup
{
private static readonly APILookup _instance = new APILookup();
private Dictionary<string, int> _lookup;
private APILookup()
{
try
{
_lookup = Utility.GetLookup();
}
catch { }
}
static APILookup()
{
}
public static APILookup Instance
{
get
{
return _instance;
}
}
public Dictionary<string, int> GetLookup()
{
return _lookup;
}
}
What is a singleton :
It is a class which only allows one instance of itself to be created, and usually gives simple access to that instance.
When should you use :
It depends on the situation.
Note : please do not use on db connection, for a detailed answer please refer to the answer of #Chad Grant
Here is a simple example of a Singleton:
public sealed class Singleton
{
private static readonly Singleton instance = new Singleton();
// Explicit static constructor to tell C# compiler
// not to mark type as beforefieldinit
static Singleton()
{
}
private Singleton()
{
}
public static Singleton Instance
{
get
{
return instance;
}
}
}
You can also use Lazy<T> to create your Singleton.
See here for a more detailed example using Lazy<T>
Here's what singleton is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singleton_pattern
I don't know C#, but it's actually the same thing in all languages, only implementation differs.
You should generally avoid singleton when it's possible, but in some situations it's very convenient.
Sorry for my English ;)
I know it's very late to answer the question but with Auto-Property you can do something like that:
public static Singleton Instance { get; } = new Singleton();
Where Singleton is you class and can be via, in this case the readonly property Instance.
Thread Safe Singleton without using locks and no lazy instantiation.
This implementation has a static constructor, so it executes only once per Application Domain.
public sealed class Singleton
{
static Singleton(){}
private Singleton(){}
public static Singleton Instance { get; } = new Singleton();
}
E.X You can use Singleton for global information that needs to be injected.
In my case, I was keeping the Logged user detail(username, permissions etc.) in Global Static Class. And when I tried to implement the Unit Test, there was no way I could inject dependency into Controller classes. Thus I have changed my Static Class to Singleton pattern.
public class SysManager
{
private static readonly SysManager_instance = new SysManager();
static SysManager() {}
private SysManager(){}
public static SysManager Instance
{
get {return _instance;}
}
}
http://csharpindepth.com/Articles/General/Singleton.aspx#cctor
Fourth version from Implementing the Singleton Pattern in C#
One shortcut you can take with this implementation (and only this one) is to just make instance a public static readonly variable, and get rid of the property entirely. This makes the basic skeleton code absolutely tiny!
public sealed class Singleton
{
public static readonly Singleton Instance = new Singleton();
static Singleton()
{
}
private Singleton()
{
}
}
Consider you have the following code:
1. Why do we use double check lock, why single lock is not good enough, please provide detailed example.
2. What are the main drawbacks with this implementation? and how should I prove it?
Thanks.
public sealed class SomeSingleton5
{
private static SomeSingleton5 s_Instance = null;
private static object s_LockObj = new Object();
private SomeSingleton5() { }
public static SomeSingleton5 Instance
{
get
{
if (s_Instance == null)
{
lock (s_LockObj)
{
if (s_Instance == null)
{
s_Instance = new SomeSingleton5();
}
}
}
return s_Instance;
}
}
}
I think the best implementation of singleton class is provided by Jon Skeet.
public sealed class Singleton
{
private static readonly Singleton instance = new Singleton();
public static Singleton Instance { get { return instance; } }
static Singleton() {}
private Singleton() {}
}
Singleton by Jon Skeet Clarification
Aquiring a lock is expensive. Without the first if(s_Instance == null) check, a lock would be aquired each time someone accesses the singleton. But a lock actually only needs to be there during instance creation. So the first if(s_Instance == null) prevents the unnecessary locking. The second if(s_Instance == null) needs to be there because initially two threads might have evaluated the first if(s_Instance == null) as true and the two threads would thereafter instanciate s_Instance after each other inside the lock.
I don't see any real drawbacks in your implementation but with the alternative (static constructor, see below) we have a solution that is simpler and involves less code. So it is more maintainable and less errorprone. Also it doesn't require locking at all. As mentioned earlier, locking is expensive.
you can improve it by using a static constructor:
public sealed class SomeSingleton5
{
// the compiler will generate a static constructor containing the following code
// and the CLR will call it (once) before SomeSingleton5 is first acccessed
private static SomeSingleton5 s_Instance = new SomeSingleton5();
private SomeSingleton5() { }
public static SomeSingleton5 Instance
{
get
{
return s_Instance;
}
}
}
A Singleton should be inheritable or They should not be ?
According to Gof "when the sole instance should be extensible by subclassing, and clients
should be able to use an extended instance without modifying their code."
but then why do i see Sealed and Private constructor examples on MSDN
In my projects, I use an Ambient Context implementation from Mark Seemanns book Dependency Injection in .NET. The main point of use of that pattern is that always when you are asking for Current instance, there has to be something and also Context can be switched by other implementation.
F.E.
public class TimeContext
{
private static TimeContext _instance;
public static TimeContext Current
{
get
{
if (_instance == null)
{
_instance = new DefaultContext();
}
return _instance;
}
set
{
if (value != null)
{
_instance = value;
}
}
}
public abstract DateTime GetDateTime();
}
And concrete implementation of context should be like:
public class DefaultContext : TimeContext
{
public DateTime GetDateTime()
{
return DateTime.Now();
}
}
I think you're mixing two different things here. The singleton pattern calls for a single instance that is used by all callers. Inheritance just means I can share common logic between a class hierarchy. This, I feel, is an implementation of the singleton pattern:
(ignore the lack of locking/thread safety, for the example's sake)
public class Singleton
{
private static Singleton _instance;
public static Singleton Instance
{
get
{
if (_instance == null)
{
// This is the original code.
//_instance = new Singleton();
// This is newer code, after I extended Singleton with
// a better implementation.
_instance = new BetterSingleton();
}
return _instance;
}
}
public virtual void ActualMethod() { // whatever }
}
public class BetterSingleton : Singleton
{
public override void ActualMethod() { // newer implementation }
}
We still have a singleton, accessed through the Singleton class's static Instance member. But the exact identity of that instance can be extended through subclassing.
I have configuration entity in my .NET CF application and I want to use singleton for this. Configuration can be changed and has to be saved/restored for next time application launch. I want to use xml serialize/deserialize, it also provides a possibility to change configuration over xml file.
The question is how to save and restore singleton? Deserialization creates a new instance of singleton class, but it means that it will be two instances of the singleton class at the moment.
I have found a solution with ISerializable interface, but it seems that it does not work with compact framework
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.runtime.serialization.iserializable%28v=VS.90%29.aspx
Is there any way to obtain the same behavior with .NET CF?
Your singleton most likely uses a private constructor in its pattern. So you'd do something like this:
public class MySingleton
{
private static MySingleton m_instance;
private MySingleton() { }
public static MySingleton Instance
{
get
{
if(m_instance == null)
{
// hydrate m_instance from serialized version
}
return m_instance;
}
}
}
or this:
public class MySingleton
{
private static MySingleton m_instance;
private MySingleton()
{
// load data from config file
}
public static MySingleton Instance
{
get
{
if(m_instance == null)
{
m_instance = new MySingleton();
}
return m_instance;
}
}
}
it may be basic question
to have a singleton in multi-threaded environment we can use a lock. Please refer the code snippet. But why do we need double-checked locking in singleton pattern? And more what does double-checked locking means?
class singleton
{
private static singleton instance = null;
private static singleton() { }
private static object objectlock = new object();
public static singleton Instance
{
get
{
lock (objectlock) //single - check lock
{
if (instance == null)
{
instance = new singleton();
}
return instance;
}
}
}
}
Jon Skeet explains this in detail.
Locks are expensive.
If the object already exists, there's no point in taking out a lock.
Thus, you have a first check outside the lock.
However, even if the object didn't exist before you took the look, another thread may have created it between the if condition and the lock statement.
Therefore, you need to check again inside the lock.
However, the best way to write a singleton is to use a static constructor:
public sealed class Singleton
{
private Singleton()
{
}
public static Singleton Instance { get { return Nested.instance; } }
private class Nested
{
// Explicit static constructor to tell C# compiler
// not to mark type as beforefieldinit
static Nested()
{
}
internal static readonly Singleton instance = new Singleton();
}
}
And with .Net 4.x and newer you should defer to the Lazy class when possible as this pattern is used with the Initialization And Publication option. (note: the inverse is available as well where creation isn't thread safe but the publication of the instance is via the Publication option)
Multithreaded Singleton : The best approach to use double check locking
public sealed class Singleton
{
private static volatile Singleton _instance;
private static readonly object InstanceLoker= new Object();
private Singleton() {}
public static Singleton Instance
{
get
{
if (_instance == null)
{
lock (InstanceLoker)
{
if (_instance == null)
_instance = new Singleton();
}
}
return _instance;
}
}
}
The "best" way I know is this:
public class MySingleton {
// object for synchronization
private static readonly object syncRoot = new object();
// the singleton instance
private static MySingleton #default;
public static MySingleton Default {
get {
// geting singleton instance without locking
var result = #default;
// if result is NOT null, no additional action is required
if ( object.ReferenceEquals(result, null) ){
// lock the synchronization object
lock(syncRoot) {
// geting singleton instanc in lock - because
// the value of #default field could be changed
result = #default;
// checking for NULL
if ( object.ReferenceEquals(result, null) ) {
// if result is NULL, create new singleton instance
result = new MySingleton();
// set the default instance
#default = result;
}
}
}
// return singleton instance
return result;
}
}
}
If you create the object in the field initialiser, you don't need the lock:
class singleton
{
private static singleton instance = new singleton();
private static singleton() { }
public static singleton Instance
{
get { return instance; }
}
}
Also - bear in mind that the lock is only controlling the creation of the object, the object would still need to be thread-safe if you're using it in multiple threads.
When we try to execute the method of the singleton class using Parallel libraries. It doesn’t recognize the singleton behavior because of multi threading is executing in TPL which causes to failure of concept Singleton Pattern . To overcome this problem there is concept of the locking of the object so that at a time only one thread can access it.
But this is not efficient approach because involvement of lock checking creates unnecessary watches to the object. To avoid it we make use “Double locking checking”