What are the Dangers of using a Singleton in a multithreaded application - c#

I'm looking at using a singleton in a multithreaded Win service for doing logging, and wanted to know what are some of the problems I might encounter. I have already set up the get instance to handle syncing with
private static volatile Logging _instance;
private static object _syncRoot = new object();
private Logging(){}
public static Logging Instance
{
get
{
if (_instance==null)
{
lock(_syncRoot)
{
if (_instance == null)
{
_instance = new Logging();
}
}
}
return _instance;
}
}
Is there anything else I might need to worry about?

That looks pretty good to me.
See Implementing the Singleton Pattern in C# for more info.
Edit: Should probably put the return inside the lock, though.

This is more informational than anything else.
What you've posted is the double-checked locking algorithm - and what you've posted will work, as far as I'm aware. (As of Java 1.5 it works there, too.) However, it's very fragile - if you get any bit of it wrong, you could introduce very subtle race conditions.
I usually prefer to initialize the singleton in the static initializer:
public class Singleton
{
private static readonly Singleton instance = new Singleton();
public static Singleton Instance
{
get { return instance; }
}
private Singleton()
{
// Do stuff
}
}
(Add a static constructor if you want a bit of extra laziness.)
That pattern's easier to get right, and in most cases it does just as well.
There's more detail on my C# singleton implementation page (also linked by Michael).
As for the dangers - I'd say the biggest problem is that you lose testability. Probably not too bad for logging.

Singleton's have the potential to become a bottleneck for access to the resource embodied by the class, and force sequential access to a resource that could otherwise be used in parallel.
In this case, that may not be a bad thing, because you don't want multiple items writing to your file at the same instant, and even so I don't think your implementation will have that result. But it's something to be aware of.

You need to ensure that each method in the logger are safe to run concurrently, i.e. that they don't write to shared state without proper locking.

You are using double-checked locking what is considered a anti-pattern. Wikipedia has patterns with and without lazy initialization for different languages.
After creating the singleton instance you must of course ensure that all methods are thread-safe.

A better suggestion would be to establish the logger in a single-threaded setup step, so it's guaranteed to be there when you need it. In a Windows Service, OnStart is a great place to do this.
Another option you have is to used the System.Threading.Interlocked.CompareExchange(T%, T, T) : T method to switch out. It's less confusing and it's guaranteed to work.
System.Threading.Interlocked.CompareExchange<Logging>(_instance, null, new Logging());

There is some debate with respect to the need to make the first check for null use Thread.VolatileRead() if you use the double checked locking pattern and want it to work on all memory models. An example of the debate can be read at http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/b1932d46-877f-41f1-bb9d-b4992f29cedc/.
That said, I typically use Jon Skeet's solution from above.

I think if Logging instance methods are thread-safe there's nothing to worry about.

Related

c# Which situation people go for singleton design pattern

here is a sample of singleton design pattern code. i just new few scenario when people design singleton class.....please mention few scenario.
i often saw people develop logger with singleton design pattern approach but why it is required because we can develop a logger without singleton design pattern.
if anyone knows real reason please share with me. thanks
public sealed class Singleton
{
Singleton()
{
}
private static readonly object padlock = new object();
private static Singleton instance = null;
public static Singleton Instance
{
get
{
if (instance == null)
{
lock (padlock)
{
if (instance == null)
{
instance = new Singleton();
}
}
}
return instance;
}
}
}
It comes down to the needs of the application as to whether or not a singleton is needed. Generally you'd like to avoid using the pattern as there are usually instance-level ways of doing things like sharing data across threads, etc. though doing so may involve writing more complex code.
One example would be to cache database look-ups across processes. Any implementation is specific to the needs application, though it may not necessarily be required, i.e., as there usually other ways of achieving the same aim.
There is a better explanation of the whys on the software engineering site of SE here.
Singleton makes since when the object is expensive to construct, but in most application architectures today there isn't a lot of room for the singleton pattern as described in the Gang of Four book. The "classic" implementation of a singleton as you described makes use of static methods, which in turn become a major dependency magnet and make it more difficult to accomplish IoC. I can't think of a case today where I would use an object specifically coded as a singleton rather than pass an object that happens to be the only one constructed.
The way that I would today achieve the goal represented by the Singleton pattern would be to configure my IoC container to create only a single instance of that particular type when resolving dependencies.

A class that are got instance once by two different application

I created a class for authentication of my project.
I want to use it in my website and also in mobile application but why this class has a static constructor and should be get instance one time, it didn't work well, I mean I want to get instance for each application once.
I want to know how fix it?
It sounds to me like you're looking for a singleton pattern.
"I mean I want to get instance for each application once."
I assume you mean that you want to construct an instance once per application.
The easiest implementation is to use this:
public class MyAuth
{
private static readonly MyAuth instance = new MyAuth();
public static MyAuth Instance { get { return instance; } }
private MyAuth()
{
// initialization goes here and will be called once
}
// Members.
}
So first off, I'm not sure if this is a good solution. Authorization is usually updated from different applications, so it might be better to flush the authentication once in a while.
Second, note that member functions can be called from multiple threads. If you want to do it like this, you have to use locking for fields that you use (either directly or indirectly). Be sure to know what you're doing.
There is an alternative solution that solves all this in a neat way (and a ton of other issues). It's called a database; you might want to consider using that.

Static Initializing pattern

What is the best way to initialize static fields via a static init method and afterwards make sure that the method is never called again? (no more than once during the lifetime of the program)
This is an example of what I currently thought of, it seems pretty simple to me but I couldn't find any examples of similar patterns that deal with this:
class Entity
{
static Manager manager;
static bool isInitialized;
public static void Initialize(Manager manager)
{
if (isInitialized)
throw Exception("Class Entity already initialized."
+ "Do not call Entity.Initialize() twice.");
isInitialized = true;
Entity.manager = manager;
}
}
What is the best way to initialize static fields via a static init method and afterwards make sure that the method is never called again?
Do you really have to do this? Why do you not want to create an instance of Manager and make it available to code which relies on it through dependency injection? That would make your code much cleaner:
You'd allow it to be testable with different initialization paths
You wouldn't need any checking for "bad" duplicate initialization
You wouldn't need to structure your calling code to specify a single initialization point for this class. (You may need to do something similar for the IoC container of course...)
You'd allow your code which depends on it to be more testable too
The code which depends on Manager would be express that dependency in a clearer way
I suspect you haven't found any similar examples because it's an anti-pattern.
If you do go for your current approach, you should really try to make it thread-safe, too...
Don't over think it, if that pattern works for you, go with it. There isn't always a "right" answer, and trying to stick to rigid patterns and practices just for the sake of sticking to them is not a good idea either. IMHO.
Sorry for stating the obvious, but you could use the object initializer or the static constructor. Besides that, you can just not call the method. Seriously. Why would someone call a method called initialize anyway.
What you could do is this. You can hide the method from IntelliSense and similar with this attribute. Stops it from cluttering up the dropdown too
Your implementation is not thread-safe, but is otherwise reasonable. If it's intended for use in a multithreaded environment, add locking.
In your sample, the open question is what should happen if multiple callers (possibly from multiple threads) call the initialization method with different parameters. This is what makes your pattern unusual, and prevents you from using the obvious static constructor or object initializer.
Can't you just use a static constructor?
Of course, you do not have control over when this constructor is called, but don't know if this is a requirement.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/k9x6w0hc(v=vs.80).aspx
You might want to use a singleton pattern with parameters to only expose certain functionality of the Manager variable.
class Entity
{
private Manager _manager = null;
public Manager manager
{
get
{
return _manager;
}
set
{
if (manager == null)
{
_manager = value;
}
}
}
/* rest of class */
}
Now you can use the manager object as any variable, but repeated sets will not modify the value.
this.manager = new Manager(0); // sets the manager
this.manager = new Manager(1); // does nothing
Now to complete the pattern in your constructor somewhere or at some reset function you might want to do a
this._manager = null;

Name for this pattern? (Answer: lazy initialization with double-checked locking)

Consider the following code:
public class Foo
{
private static object _lock = new object();
public void NameDoesNotMatter()
{
if( SomeDataDoesNotExist() )
{
lock(_lock)
{
if( SomeDataDoesNotExist() )
{
CreateSomeData();
}
else
{
// someone else also noticed the lack of data. We
// both contended for the lock. The other guy won
// and created the data, so we no longer need to.
// But once he got out of the lock, we got in.
// There's nothing left to do.
}
}
}
}
private bool SomeDataDoesNotExist()
{
// Note - this method must be thread-safe.
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
private bool CreateSomeData()
{
// Note - This shouldn't need to be thread-safe
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
First, there are some assumptions I need to state:
There is a good reason I couldn't just do this once an app startup. Maybe the data wasn't available yet, etc.
Foo may be instantiated and used concurrently from two or more threads. I want one of them to end up creating some data (but not both of them) then I'll allow both to access that same data (ignore thread safety of accessing the data)
The cost to SomeDataDoesNotExist() is not huge.
Now, this doesn't necessarily have to be confined to some data creation situation, but this was an example I could think of.
The part that I'm especially interested in identifying as a pattern is the check -> lock -> check. I've had to explain this pattern to developers on a few occasions who didn't get the algorithm at first glance but could then appreciate it.
Anyway, other people must do similarly. Is this a standardized pattern? What's it called?
Though I can see how you might think this looks like double-checked locking, what it actually looks like is dangerously broken and incorrect double-checked locking. Without an actual implementation of SomeDataDoesNotExist and CreateSomeData to critique we have no guarantee whatsoever that this thing is actually threadsafe on every processor.
For an example of an analysis of how double-checked locking can go wrong, check out this broken and incorrect version of double-checked locking:
C# manual lock/unlock
My advice: don't use any low-lock technique without a compelling reason and a code review from an expert on the memory model; you'll probably get it wrong. Most people do.
In particular, don't use double-checked locking unless you can describe exactly what memory access reorderings the processors can do on your behalf and provide a convincing argument that your solution is correct given any possible memory access reordering. The moment you step away even slightly from a known-to-be-correct implementation, you need to start the analysis over from scratch. You can't assume that just because one implementation of double-checked locking is correct, that they all are; almost none of them are correct.
Lazy initialization with double-checked locking?
The part that I'm especially interested in identifying as a pattern is the check -> lock -> check.
That is called double-checked locking.
Beware that in older Java versions (before Java 5) it is not safe because of how Java's memory model was defined. In Java 5 and newer changes were made to the specification of Java's memory model so that it is now safe.
The only name that comes to mind for this kind of is "Faulting". This name is used in iOS Core-Data framework to similar effect.
Basically, your method NameDoesNotMatter is a fault, and whenever someone invokes it, it results in the object to get populated or initialized.
See http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/CoreData/Articles/cdFaultingUniquing.html for more details on how this design pattern is used.

C# Dictionary with ReaderWriterLockSlim

I'm very new to multi-threading and for some reason this class is giving me more trouble than it should.
I am setting up a dictionary in the ASP.net cache - It will be frequently queried for individual objects, enumerated occasionally, and written extremely infrequently. I'll note that the dictionary data is almost never changed, I'm planning on letting it expire daily with a callback to rebuild from the database when it leaves the cache.
I believe that the enumeration and access by keys are safe so long as the dictionary isn't being written. I'm thinking a ReaderWriterLockSlim based wrapper class is the way to go but I'm fuzzy on a few points.
If I use Lock I believe that I can either lock on a token or the actual object I'm protecting. I don't see how to do something similar using the ReaderWriter Lock. Am I correct in thinking that multiple instances of my wrapper will not lock properly as the ReaderWriterLocks are out of each other's scope?
What is the best practice for writing a wrapper like this? Building it as a static almost seems redundant as the primary object is being maintained by the cache. Singleton's seem to be frowned upon, and I'm concerned about the above mentioned scoping issues for individual instances.
I've seen a few implementations of similar wrappers around but I haven't been able to answer these questions. I just want to make sure that I have a firm grasp on what I'm doing rather than cutting & pasting my way through. Thank you very much for your help!
**Edit: Hopefully this is a clearer summary of what I'm trying to find out- **
1. Am I correct in thinking that the lock does not affect the underlying data and is scoped like any other variable?
As an example lets say i have the following -
MyWrapperClass
{
ReaderWriterLockSlim lck = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
Do stuff with this lock on the underlying cached dictionary object...
}
MyWrapperClass wrapA = new MyWrapperClass();
MyWrapperClass wrapB = new MyWrapperClass();
Am I right in thinking that the wrapA lock and wrapB lock won't interact, And that if wrapA & wrapB both attempt operations it will be unsafe?
2. If this is the case what is the best practice way to "share" the lock data?
This is an Asp.net app - there will be multiple pages that need to access the data which is why i'm doing this in the first place. What is the best practice for ensuring that the various wrappers are using the same lock? Should my wrapper be a static or singleton that all threads are using, if not what is the more elegant alternative?
You have multiple dictionary objects in the Cache, and you want each one locked independently. The "best" way is to just use a simple class that does it for you.
public class ReadWriteDictionary<K,V>
{
private readonly Dictionary<K,V> dict = new Dictionary<K,V>();
private readonly ReaderWriterLockSlim rwLock = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
public V Get(K key)
{
return ReadLock(() => dict[key]);
}
public void Set(K key, V value)
{
WriteLock(() => dict.Add(key, value));
}
public IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<K, V>> GetPairs()
{
return ReadLock(() => dict.ToList());
}
private V2 ReadLock<V2>(Func<V2> func)
{
rwLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return func();
}
finally
{
rwLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}
private void WriteLock(Action action)
{
rwLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
action();
}
finally
{
rwLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}
}
Cache["somekey"] = new ReadWriteDictionary<string,int>();
There is also a more complete example on the help page of ReaderWriterLockSlim on MSDN. It wouldn't be hard to make it generic.
edit To answer your new questions -
1.) You are correct wrapA and wrapB will not interact. They both have their own instance of ReaderWriterLockSlim.
2.) If you need a shared lock amongst all your wrapper classes, then it must be static.
ConcurrentDictionary does everything you want and then some. Part of System.Concurrent.Collections
The standard way to lock is: object lck = new object(); ... lock(lck) { ... } in this instance the object lck represents the lock.
ReadWriterLockSlim isn't much different, its just in this case the actual ReadWriterLockSlim class represents the actual lock, so everywhere you would have used lck you now use your ReadWriterLockSlim.
ReadWriterLockSlim lck = new ReadWriterLockSlim();
...
lck.EnterReadLock();
try
{
...
}
finally
{
lck.ExitReadLock();
}

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