CountDownLatch vs. Semaphore

finnw_12048 0
Viewed 60883

Is there any advantage of using

java.util.concurrent.CountdownLatch

instead of

java.util.concurrent.Semaphore?

As far as I can tell the following fragments are almost equivalent:

1. Semaphore

final Semaphore sem = new Semaphore(0);
for (int i = 0; i < num_threads; ++ i)
{
  Thread t = new Thread() {
    public void run()
    {
      try
      {
        doStuff();
      }
      finally
      {
        sem.release();
      }
    }
  };
  t.start();
}

sem.acquire(num_threads);

2: CountDownLatch

final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(num_threads);
for (int i = 0; i < num_threads; ++ i)
{
  Thread t = new Thread() {
    public void run()
    {
      try
      {
        doStuff();
      }
      finally
      {
        latch.countDown();
      }
    }
  };
  t.start();
}

latch.await();

Except that in case #2 the latch cannot be reused and more importantly you need to know in advance how many threads will be created (or wait until they are all started before creating the latch.)

So in what situation might the latch be preferable?

countdownlatch concurrency multithreading semaphore java
7 Answers

CountDownLatch is frequently used for the exact opposite of your example. Generally, you would have many threads blocking on await() that would all start simultaneously when the countown reached zero.

final CountDownLatch countdown = new CountDownLatch(1);

for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++ i) {
   Thread racecar = new Thread() {    
      public void run() {
         countdown.await(); //all threads waiting
         System.out.println("Vroom!");
      }
   };
   racecar.start();
}
System.out.println("Go");
countdown.countDown();   //all threads start now!

You could also use this as an MPI-style "barrier" that causes all threads to wait for other threads to catch up to a certain point before proceeding.

final CountDownLatch countdown = new CountDownLatch(num_thread);

for (int i = 0; i < num_thread; ++ i) {
   Thread t= new Thread() {    
      public void run() {
         doSomething();
         countdown.countDown();
         System.out.printf("Waiting on %d other threads.",countdown.getCount());
         countdown.await();     //waits until everyone reaches this point
         finish();
      }
   };
   t.start();
}

That all said, the CountDownLatch can safely be used in the manner you've shown in your example.

James_Schek_178710

CountDownLatch is used to start a series of threads and then wait until all of them are complete (or until they call countDown() a given number of times.

Semaphore is used to control the number of concurrent threads that are using a resource. That resource can be something like a file, or could be the cpu by limiting the number of threads executing. The count on a Semaphore can go up and down as different threads call acquire() and release().

In your example, you're essentially using Semaphore as a sort of CountUPLatch. Given that your intent is to wait on all threads finishing, using the CountdownLatch makes your intention clearer.

hobaird_64790

Looking at the freely available source, there is no magic in the implementation of the two classes, so their performance should be much the same. Choose the one that makes your intent more obvious.

Tom_Hawtin_-_tackline_47250

CountdownLatch makes threads wait on the await() method, until such a time as the count has reached zero. So maybe you want all your threads to wait until 3 invocations of something, then all the threads can go. A Latch generally can not be reset.

A Semaphore allows threads to retrieve permits, which prevents too many threads from executing at once, blocking if it cannot get the permit(s) it requires to proceed. Permits can be returned to a Semaphore allowing the other waiting threads to proceed.

Spencer_K_85280

Semaphore controls access to a shared resource through the use of a counter. If the counter is greater than zero, then access is allowed. If it is zero, then access is denied. Counter is counting the permits that allow access to shared resource. Thus to access the resource, a thread must be granted a permit from the semaphore.

CountDownlatch make a thread to wait until one or more events have occured. A countDownLatch is initially created with a count of the number of events that much occur before the latch is released. Each time an event happens, the count is decremented.

user_74249980
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