std::shared_mutex vs std::mutex
Similar to std::mutex, std::shared_mutex is a synchronization primitive that prevents concurrent access to shared resources. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of std::shared_mutex over std::mutex
The std::shared_mutex has the following advantages over std::mutex:
- Enhanced Parallelism: Multiple threads can access the shared data for reading operation at once enhancing the parallelism of the program where only read operation is required.
Advantages of std::shared_mutex over std::mutex
- Limited Flexibility: There are only two types of locks that the std::shared_mutex supports: shared locks and unique locks. Additional lock types, such as recursive and postponed locks, are supported via the std::mutex.
- Increased Complexity: Compared to std::mutex, std::shared_mutex has greater complexity. It may become more challenging to understand and apply.
std::shared_mutex in C++
In C++, std::mutex is a mechanism that locks access to the shared resource when some other thread is working on it so that errors such as race conditions can be avoided and threads can be synchronized. But in some cases, several threads need to read the data from shared resources at the same time. Here, the std::shared_mutex comes into play. In this article, we will discuss the std::shared_mutex, its associated methods, and how it is different from the std::mutex in C++.
Prerequisite: C++ Multithreading, std::mutex in C++.
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