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			27 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
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<!--{
 | 
						||
	"Title": "The Go Memory Model",
 | 
						||
	"Subtitle": "Version of June 6, 2022",
 | 
						||
	"Path": "/ref/mem"
 | 
						||
}-->
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<style>
 | 
						||
p.rule {
 | 
						||
  font-style: italic;
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</style>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The Go memory model specifies the conditions under which
 | 
						||
reads of a variable in one goroutine can be guaranteed to
 | 
						||
observe values produced by writes to the same variable in a different goroutine.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="advice">Advice</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Programs that modify data being simultaneously accessed by multiple goroutines
 | 
						||
must serialize such access.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
To serialize access, protect the data with channel operations or other synchronization primitives
 | 
						||
such as those in the <a href="/pkg/sync/"><code>sync</code></a>
 | 
						||
and <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/"><code>sync/atomic</code></a> packages.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If you must read the rest of this document to understand the behavior of your program,
 | 
						||
you are being too clever.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Don't be clever.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="overview">Informal Overview</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Go approaches its memory model in much the same way as the rest of the language,
 | 
						||
aiming to keep the semantics simple, understandable, and useful.
 | 
						||
This section gives a general overview of the approach and should suffice for most programmers.
 | 
						||
The memory model is specified more formally in the next section.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A <em>data race</em> is defined as
 | 
						||
a write to a memory location happening concurrently with another read or write to that same location,
 | 
						||
unless all the accesses involved are atomic data accesses as provided by the <code>sync/atomic</code> package.
 | 
						||
As noted already, programmers are strongly encouraged to use appropriate synchronization
 | 
						||
to avoid data races.
 | 
						||
In the absence of data races, Go programs behave as if all the goroutines
 | 
						||
were multiplexed onto a single processor.
 | 
						||
This property is sometimes referred to as DRF-SC: data-race-free programs
 | 
						||
execute in a sequentially consistent manner.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
While programmers should write Go programs without data races,
 | 
						||
there are limitations to what a Go implementation can do in response to a data race.
 | 
						||
An implementation may always react to a data race by reporting the race and terminating the program.
 | 
						||
Otherwise, each read of a single-word-sized or sub-word-sized memory location
 | 
						||
must observe a value actually written to that location (perhaps by a concurrent executing goroutine)
 | 
						||
and not yet overwritten.
 | 
						||
These implementation constraints make Go more like Java or JavaScript,
 | 
						||
in that most races have a limited number of outcomes,
 | 
						||
and less like C and C++, where the meaning of any program with a race
 | 
						||
is entirely undefined, and the compiler may do anything at all.
 | 
						||
Go's approach aims to make errant programs more reliable and easier to debug,
 | 
						||
while still insisting that races are errors and that tools can diagnose and report them.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h2 id="model">Memory Model</h2>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The following formal definition of Go's memory model closely follows
 | 
						||
the approach presented by Hans-J. Boehm and Sarita V. Adve in
 | 
						||
“<a href="https://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2008/HPL-2008-56.pdf">Foundations of the C++ Concurrency Memory Model</a>”,
 | 
						||
published in PLDI 2008.
 | 
						||
The definition of data-race-free programs and the guarantee of sequential consistency
 | 
						||
for race-free programs are equivalent to the ones in that work.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The memory model describes the requirements on program executions,
 | 
						||
which are made up of goroutine executions,
 | 
						||
which in turn are made up of memory operations.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A <i>memory operation</i> is modeled by four details:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
<ul>
 | 
						||
	<li>its kind, indicating whether it is an ordinary data read, an ordinary data write,
 | 
						||
    or a <i>synchronizing operation</i> such as an atomic data access,
 | 
						||
	a mutex operation, or a channel operation,</li>
 | 
						||
	<li>its location in the program,</li>
 | 
						||
	<li>the memory location or variable being accessed, and</li>
 | 
						||
	<li>the values read or written by the operation.</li>
 | 
						||
</ul>
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Some memory operations are <i>read-like</i>, including read, atomic read, mutex lock, and channel receive.
 | 
						||
Other memory operations are <i>write-like</i>, including write, atomic write, mutex unlock, channel send, and channel close.
 | 
						||
Some, such as atomic compare-and-swap, are both read-like and write-like.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A <i>goroutine execution</i> is modeled as a set of memory operations executed by a single goroutine.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
<b>Requirement 1</b>:
 | 
						||
The memory operations in each goroutine must correspond to a correct sequential execution of that goroutine,
 | 
						||
given the values read from and written to memory.
 | 
						||
That execution must be consistent with the <i>sequenced before</i> relation,
 | 
						||
defined as the partial order requirements set out by the <a href="/ref/spec">Go language specification</a>
 | 
						||
for Go's control flow constructs as well as the <a href="/ref/spec#Order_of_evaluation">order of evaluation for expressions</a>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A Go <i>program execution</i> is modeled as a set of goroutine executions,
 | 
						||
together with a mapping <i>W</i> that specifies the write-like operation that each read-like operation reads from.
 | 
						||
(Multiple executions of the same program can have different program executions.)
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
<b>Requirement 2</b>:
 | 
						||
For a given program execution, the mapping <i>W</i>, when limited to synchronizing operations,
 | 
						||
must be explainable by some implicit total order of the synchronizing operations
 | 
						||
that is consistent with sequencing and the values read and written by those operations.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The <i>synchronized before</i> relation is a partial order on synchronizing memory operations,
 | 
						||
derived from <i>W</i>.
 | 
						||
If a synchronizing read-like memory operation <i>r</i>
 | 
						||
observes a synchronizing write-like memory operation <i>w</i>
 | 
						||
(that is, if <i>W</i>(<i>r</i>) = <i>w</i>),
 | 
						||
then <i>w</i> is synchronized before <i>r</i>.
 | 
						||
Informally, the synchronized before relation is a subset of the implied total order
 | 
						||
mentioned in the previous paragraph,
 | 
						||
limited to the information that <i>W</i> directly observes.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The <i>happens before</i> relation is defined as the transitive closure of the
 | 
						||
union of the sequenced before and synchronized before relations.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
<b>Requirement 3</b>:
 | 
						||
For an ordinary (non-synchronizing) data read <i>r</i> on a memory location <i>x</i>,
 | 
						||
<i>W</i>(<i>r</i>) must be a write <i>w</i> that is <i>visible</i> to <i>r</i>,
 | 
						||
where visible means that both of the following hold:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<ol>
 | 
						||
	<li><i>w</i> happens before <i>r</i>.</li>
 | 
						||
	<li><i>w</i> does not happen before any other write <i>w'</i> (to <i>x</i>) that happens before <i>r</i>.</li>
 | 
						||
</ol>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A <i>read-write data race</i> on memory location <i>x</i>
 | 
						||
consists of a read-like memory operation <i>r</i> on <i>x</i>
 | 
						||
and a write-like memory operation <i>w</i> on <i>x</i>,
 | 
						||
at least one of which is non-synchronizing,
 | 
						||
which are unordered by happens before
 | 
						||
(that is, neither <i>r</i> happens before <i>w</i>
 | 
						||
nor <i>w</i> happens before <i>r</i>).
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A <i>write-write data race</i> on memory location <i>x</i>
 | 
						||
consists of two write-like memory operations <i>w</i> and <i>w'</i> on <i>x</i>,
 | 
						||
at least one of which is non-synchronizing,
 | 
						||
which are unordered by happens before.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Note that if there are no read-write or write-write data races on memory location <i>x</i>,
 | 
						||
then any read <i>r</i> on <i>x</i> has only one possible <i>W</i>(<i>r</i>):
 | 
						||
the single <i>w</i> that immediately precedes it in the happens before order.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
More generally, it can be shown that any Go program that is data-race-free,
 | 
						||
meaning it has no program executions with read-write or write-write data races,
 | 
						||
can only have outcomes explained by some sequentially consistent interleaving
 | 
						||
of the goroutine executions.
 | 
						||
(The proof is the same as Section 7 of Boehm and Adve's paper cited above.)
 | 
						||
This property is called DRF-SC.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The intent of the formal definition is to match
 | 
						||
the DRF-SC guarantee provided to race-free programs
 | 
						||
by other languages, including C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Rust, and Swift.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Certain Go language operations such as goroutine creation and memory allocation
 | 
						||
act as synchronization operations.
 | 
						||
The effect of these operations on the synchronized-before partial order
 | 
						||
is documented in the “Synchronization” section below.
 | 
						||
Individual packages are responsible for providing similar documentation
 | 
						||
for their own operations.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h2 id="restrictions">Implementation Restrictions for Programs Containing Data Races</h2>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The preceding section gave a formal definition of data-race-free program execution.
 | 
						||
This section informally describes the semantics that implementations must provide
 | 
						||
for programs that do contain races.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Any implementation can, upon detecting a data race,
 | 
						||
report the race and halt execution of the program.
 | 
						||
Implementations using ThreadSanitizer
 | 
						||
(accessed with “<code>go</code> <code>build</code> <code>-race</code>”)
 | 
						||
do exactly this.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A read of an array, struct, or complex number
 | 
						||
may by implemented as a read of each individual sub-value
 | 
						||
(array element, struct field, or real/imaginary component),
 | 
						||
in any order.
 | 
						||
Similarly, a write of an array, struct, or complex number
 | 
						||
may be implemented as a write of each individual sub-value,
 | 
						||
in any order.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
A read <i>r</i> of a memory location <i>x</i>
 | 
						||
holding a value
 | 
						||
that is not larger than a machine word must observe
 | 
						||
some write <i>w</i> such that <i>r</i> does not happen before <i>w</i>
 | 
						||
and there is no write <i>w'</i> such that <i>w</i> happens before <i>w'</i>
 | 
						||
and <i>w'</i> happens before <i>r</i>.
 | 
						||
That is, each read must observe a value written by a preceding or concurrent write.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Additionally, observation of acausal and “out of thin air” writes is disallowed.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Reads of memory locations larger than a single machine word
 | 
						||
are encouraged but not required to meet the same semantics
 | 
						||
as word-sized memory locations,
 | 
						||
observing a single allowed write <i>w</i>.
 | 
						||
For performance reasons,
 | 
						||
implementations may instead treat larger operations
 | 
						||
as a set of individual machine-word-sized operations
 | 
						||
in an unspecified order.
 | 
						||
This means that races on multiword data structures
 | 
						||
can lead to inconsistent values not corresponding to a single write.
 | 
						||
When the values depend on the consistency
 | 
						||
of internal (pointer, length) or (pointer, type) pairs,
 | 
						||
as can be the case for interface values, maps,
 | 
						||
slices, and strings in most Go implementations,
 | 
						||
such races can in turn lead to arbitrary memory corruption.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Examples of incorrect synchronization are given in the
 | 
						||
“Incorrect synchronization” section below.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Examples of the limitations on implementations are given in the
 | 
						||
“Incorrect compilation” section below.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h2 id="synchronization">Synchronization</h2>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="init">Initialization</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Program initialization runs in a single goroutine,
 | 
						||
but that goroutine may create other goroutines,
 | 
						||
which run concurrently.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
If a package <code>p</code> imports package <code>q</code>, the completion of
 | 
						||
<code>q</code>'s <code>init</code> functions happens before the start of any of <code>p</code>'s.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
The completion of all <code>init</code> functions is synchronized before
 | 
						||
the start of the function <code>main.main</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="go">Goroutine creation</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
The <code>go</code> statement that starts a new goroutine
 | 
						||
is synchronized before the start of the goroutine's execution.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
For example, in this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func f() {
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func hello() {
 | 
						||
	a = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
	go f()
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
calling <code>hello</code> will print <code>"hello, world"</code>
 | 
						||
at some point in the future (perhaps after <code>hello</code> has returned).
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="goexit">Goroutine destruction</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The exit of a goroutine is not guaranteed to be synchronized before
 | 
						||
any event in the program.
 | 
						||
For example, in this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func hello() {
 | 
						||
	go func() { a = "hello" }()
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
the assignment to <code>a</code> is not followed by
 | 
						||
any synchronization event, so it is not guaranteed to be
 | 
						||
observed by any other goroutine.
 | 
						||
In fact, an aggressive compiler might delete the entire <code>go</code> statement.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If the effects of a goroutine must be observed by another goroutine,
 | 
						||
use a synchronization mechanism such as a lock or channel
 | 
						||
communication to establish a relative ordering.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="chan">Channel communication</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Channel communication is the main method of synchronization
 | 
						||
between goroutines.  Each send on a particular channel
 | 
						||
is matched to a corresponding receive from that channel,
 | 
						||
usually in a different goroutine.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
A send on a channel is synchronized before the completion of the
 | 
						||
corresponding receive from that channel.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
This program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var c = make(chan int, 10)
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func f() {
 | 
						||
	a = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
	c <- 0
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func main() {
 | 
						||
	go f()
 | 
						||
	<-c
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
is guaranteed to print <code>"hello, world"</code>.  The write to <code>a</code>
 | 
						||
is sequenced before the send on <code>c</code>, which is synchronized before
 | 
						||
the corresponding receive on <code>c</code> completes, which is sequenced before
 | 
						||
the <code>print</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
The closing of a channel is synchronized before a receive that returns a zero value
 | 
						||
because the channel is closed.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
In the previous example, replacing
 | 
						||
<code>c <- 0</code> with <code>close(c)</code>
 | 
						||
yields a program with the same guaranteed behavior.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
A receive from an unbuffered channel is synchronized before the completion of
 | 
						||
the corresponding send on that channel.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
This program (as above, but with the send and receive statements swapped and
 | 
						||
using an unbuffered channel):
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var c = make(chan int)
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func f() {
 | 
						||
	a = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
	<-c
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func main() {
 | 
						||
	go f()
 | 
						||
	c <- 0
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
is also guaranteed to print <code>"hello, world"</code>.  The write to <code>a</code>
 | 
						||
is sequenced before the receive on <code>c</code>, which is synchronized before
 | 
						||
the corresponding send on <code>c</code> completes, which is sequenced
 | 
						||
before the <code>print</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If the channel were buffered (e.g., <code>c = make(chan int, 1)</code>)
 | 
						||
then the program would not be guaranteed to print
 | 
						||
<code>"hello, world"</code>.  (It might print the empty string,
 | 
						||
crash, or do something else.)
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
The <i>k</i>th receive on a channel with capacity <i>C</i> is synchronized before the completion of the <i>k</i>+<i>C</i>th send from that channel completes.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
This rule generalizes the previous rule to buffered channels.
 | 
						||
It allows a counting semaphore to be modeled by a buffered channel:
 | 
						||
the number of items in the channel corresponds to the number of active uses,
 | 
						||
the capacity of the channel corresponds to the maximum number of simultaneous uses,
 | 
						||
sending an item acquires the semaphore, and receiving an item releases
 | 
						||
the semaphore.
 | 
						||
This is a common idiom for limiting concurrency.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
This program starts a goroutine for every entry in the work list, but the
 | 
						||
goroutines coordinate using the <code>limit</code> channel to ensure
 | 
						||
that at most three are running work functions at a time.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var limit = make(chan int, 3)
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func main() {
 | 
						||
	for _, w := range work {
 | 
						||
		go func(w func()) {
 | 
						||
			limit <- 1
 | 
						||
			w()
 | 
						||
			<-limit
 | 
						||
		}(w)
 | 
						||
	}
 | 
						||
	select{}
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="locks">Locks</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The <code>sync</code> package implements two lock data types,
 | 
						||
<code>sync.Mutex</code> and <code>sync.RWMutex</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
For any <code>sync.Mutex</code> or <code>sync.RWMutex</code> variable <code>l</code> and <i>n</i> < <i>m</i>,
 | 
						||
call <i>n</i> of <code>l.Unlock()</code> is synchronized before call <i>m</i> of <code>l.Lock()</code> returns.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
This program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var l sync.Mutex
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func f() {
 | 
						||
	a = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
	l.Unlock()
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func main() {
 | 
						||
	l.Lock()
 | 
						||
	go f()
 | 
						||
	l.Lock()
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
is guaranteed to print <code>"hello, world"</code>.
 | 
						||
The first call to <code>l.Unlock()</code> (in <code>f</code>) is synchronized
 | 
						||
before the second call to <code>l.Lock()</code> (in <code>main</code>) returns,
 | 
						||
which is sequenced before the <code>print</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
For any call to <code>l.RLock</code> on a <code>sync.RWMutex</code> variable <code>l</code>,
 | 
						||
there is an <i>n</i> such that the <i>n</i>th call to <code>l.Unlock</code>
 | 
						||
is synchronized before the return from <code>l.RLock</code>,
 | 
						||
and the matching call to <code>l.RUnlock</code> is synchronized before the return from call <i>n</i>+1 to <code>l.Lock</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
A successful call to <code>l.TryLock</code> (or <code>l.TryRLock</code>)
 | 
						||
is equivalent to a call to <code>l.Lock</code> (or <code>l.RLock</code>).
 | 
						||
An unsuccessful call has no synchronizing effect at all.
 | 
						||
As far as the memory model is concerned,
 | 
						||
<code>l.TryLock</code> (or <code>l.TryRLock</code>)
 | 
						||
may be considered to be able to return false
 | 
						||
even when the mutex <i>l</i> is unlocked.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="once">Once</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The <code>sync</code> package provides a safe mechanism for
 | 
						||
initialization in the presence of multiple goroutines
 | 
						||
through the use of the <code>Once</code> type.
 | 
						||
Multiple threads can execute <code>once.Do(f)</code> for a particular <code>f</code>,
 | 
						||
but only one will run <code>f()</code>, and the other calls block
 | 
						||
until <code>f()</code> has returned.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p class="rule">
 | 
						||
The completion of a single call of <code>f()</code> from <code>once.Do(f)</code>
 | 
						||
is synchronized before the return of any call of <code>once.Do(f)</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
In this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
var once sync.Once
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func setup() {
 | 
						||
	a = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func doprint() {
 | 
						||
	once.Do(setup)
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func twoprint() {
 | 
						||
	go doprint()
 | 
						||
	go doprint()
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
calling <code>twoprint</code> will call <code>setup</code> exactly
 | 
						||
once.
 | 
						||
The <code>setup</code> function will complete before either call
 | 
						||
of <code>print</code>.
 | 
						||
The result will be that <code>"hello, world"</code> will be printed
 | 
						||
twice.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="atomic">Atomic Values</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The APIs in the <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/"><code>sync/atomic</code></a>
 | 
						||
package are collectively “atomic operations”
 | 
						||
that can be used to synchronize the execution of different goroutines.
 | 
						||
If the effect of an atomic operation <i>A</i> is observed by atomic operation <i>B</i>,
 | 
						||
then <i>A</i> is synchronized before <i>B</i>.
 | 
						||
All the atomic operations executed in a program behave as though executed
 | 
						||
in some sequentially consistent order.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The preceding definition has the same semantics as C++’s sequentially consistent atomics
 | 
						||
and Java’s <code>volatile</code> variables.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="finalizer">Finalizers</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The <a href="/pkg/runtime/"><code>runtime</code></a> package provides
 | 
						||
a <code>SetFinalizer</code> function that adds a finalizer to be called when
 | 
						||
a particular object is no longer reachable by the program.
 | 
						||
A call to <code>SetFinalizer(x, f)</code> is synchronized before the finalization call <code>f(x)</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h3 id="more">Additional Mechanisms</h3>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The <code>sync</code> package provides additional synchronization abstractions,
 | 
						||
including <a href="/pkg/sync/#Cond">condition variables</a>,
 | 
						||
<a href="/pkg/sync/#Map">lock-free maps</a>,
 | 
						||
<a href="/pkg/sync/#Pool">allocation pools</a>,
 | 
						||
and
 | 
						||
<a href="/pkg/sync/#WaitGroup">wait groups</a>.
 | 
						||
The documentation for each of these specifies the guarantees it
 | 
						||
makes concerning synchronization.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Other packages that provide synchronization abstractions
 | 
						||
should document the guarantees they make too.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h2 id="badsync">Incorrect synchronization</h2>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Programs with races are incorrect and
 | 
						||
can exhibit non-sequentially consistent executions.
 | 
						||
In particular, note that a read <i>r</i> may observe the value written by any write <i>w</i>
 | 
						||
that executes concurrently with <i>r</i>.
 | 
						||
Even if this occurs, it does not imply that reads happening after <i>r</i>
 | 
						||
will observe writes that happened before <i>w</i>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
In this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var a, b int
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func f() {
 | 
						||
	a = 1
 | 
						||
	b = 2
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func g() {
 | 
						||
	print(b)
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func main() {
 | 
						||
	go f()
 | 
						||
	g()
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
it can happen that <code>g</code> prints <code>2</code> and then <code>0</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
This fact invalidates a few common idioms.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Double-checked locking is an attempt to avoid the overhead of synchronization.
 | 
						||
For example, the <code>twoprint</code> program might be
 | 
						||
incorrectly written as:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
var done bool
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func setup() {
 | 
						||
	a = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
	done = true
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func doprint() {
 | 
						||
	if !done {
 | 
						||
		once.Do(setup)
 | 
						||
	}
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func twoprint() {
 | 
						||
	go doprint()
 | 
						||
	go doprint()
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
but there is no guarantee that, in <code>doprint</code>, observing the write to <code>done</code>
 | 
						||
implies observing the write to <code>a</code>.  This
 | 
						||
version can (incorrectly) print an empty string
 | 
						||
instead of <code>"hello, world"</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Another incorrect idiom is busy waiting for a value, as in:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
var a string
 | 
						||
var done bool
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func setup() {
 | 
						||
	a = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
	done = true
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func main() {
 | 
						||
	go setup()
 | 
						||
	for !done {
 | 
						||
	}
 | 
						||
	print(a)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
As before, there is no guarantee that, in <code>main</code>,
 | 
						||
observing the write to <code>done</code>
 | 
						||
implies observing the write to <code>a</code>, so this program could
 | 
						||
print an empty string too.
 | 
						||
Worse, there is no guarantee that the write to <code>done</code> will ever
 | 
						||
be observed by <code>main</code>, since there are no synchronization
 | 
						||
events between the two threads.  The loop in <code>main</code> is not
 | 
						||
guaranteed to finish.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
There are subtler variants on this theme, such as this program.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
type T struct {
 | 
						||
	msg string
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
var g *T
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func setup() {
 | 
						||
	t := new(T)
 | 
						||
	t.msg = "hello, world"
 | 
						||
	g = t
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
func main() {
 | 
						||
	go setup()
 | 
						||
	for g == nil {
 | 
						||
	}
 | 
						||
	print(g.msg)
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Even if <code>main</code> observes <code>g != nil</code> and exits its loop,
 | 
						||
there is no guarantee that it will observe the initialized
 | 
						||
value for <code>g.msg</code>.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
In all these examples, the solution is the same:
 | 
						||
use explicit synchronization.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h2 id="badcompiler">Incorrect compilation</h2>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
The Go memory model restricts compiler optimizations as much as it does Go programs.
 | 
						||
Some compiler optimizations that would be valid in single-threaded programs are not valid in all Go programs.
 | 
						||
In particular, a compiler must not introduce writes that do not exist in the original program,
 | 
						||
it must not allow a single read to observe multiple values,
 | 
						||
and it must not allow a single write to write multiple values.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
All the following examples assume that `*p` and `*q` refer to
 | 
						||
memory locations accessible to multiple goroutines.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Not introducing data races into race-free programs means not moving
 | 
						||
writes out of conditional statements in which they appear.
 | 
						||
For example, a compiler must not invert the conditional in this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
*p = 1
 | 
						||
if cond {
 | 
						||
	*p = 2
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
That is, the compiler must not rewrite the program into this one:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
*p = 2
 | 
						||
if !cond {
 | 
						||
	*p = 1
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If <code>cond</code> is false and another goroutine is reading <code>*p</code>,
 | 
						||
then in the original program, the other goroutine can only observe any prior value of <code>*p</code> and <code>1</code>.
 | 
						||
In the rewritten program, the other goroutine can observe <code>2</code>, which was previously impossible.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Not introducing data races also means not assuming that loops terminate.
 | 
						||
For example, a compiler must in general not move the accesses to <code>*p</code> or <code>*q</code>
 | 
						||
ahead of the loop in this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
n := 0
 | 
						||
for e := list; e != nil; e = e.next {
 | 
						||
	n++
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
i := *p
 | 
						||
*q = 1
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If <code>list</code> pointed to a cyclic list,
 | 
						||
then the original program would never access <code>*p</code> or <code>*q</code>,
 | 
						||
but the rewritten program would.
 | 
						||
(Moving `*p` ahead would be safe if the compiler can prove `*p` will not panic;
 | 
						||
moving `*q` ahead would also require the compiler proving that no other
 | 
						||
goroutine can access `*q`.)
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Not introducing data races also means not assuming that called functions
 | 
						||
always return or are free of synchronization operations.
 | 
						||
For example, a compiler must not move the accesses to <code>*p</code> or <code>*q</code>
 | 
						||
ahead of the function call in this program
 | 
						||
(at least not without direct knowledge of the precise behavior of <code>f</code>):
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
f()
 | 
						||
i := *p
 | 
						||
*q = 1
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If the call never returned, then once again the original program
 | 
						||
would never access <code>*p</code> or <code>*q</code>, but the rewritten program would.
 | 
						||
And if the call contained synchronizing operations, then the original program
 | 
						||
could establish happens before edges preceding the accesses
 | 
						||
to <code>*p</code> and <code>*q</code>, but the rewritten program would not.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Not allowing a single read to observe multiple values means
 | 
						||
not reloading local variables from shared memory.
 | 
						||
For example, a compiler must not discard <code>i</code> and reload it
 | 
						||
a second time from <code>*p</code> in this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
i := *p
 | 
						||
if i < 0 || i >= len(funcs) {
 | 
						||
	panic("invalid function index")
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
... complex code ...
 | 
						||
// compiler must NOT reload i = *p here
 | 
						||
funcs[i]()
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If the complex code needs many registers, a compiler for single-threaded programs
 | 
						||
could discard <code>i</code> without saving a copy and then reload
 | 
						||
<code>i = *p</code> just before
 | 
						||
<code>funcs[i]()</code>.
 | 
						||
A Go compiler must not, because the value of <code>*p</code> may have changed.
 | 
						||
(Instead, the compiler could spill <code>i</code> to the stack.)
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Not allowing a single write to write multiple values also means not using
 | 
						||
the memory where a local variable will be written as temporary storage before the write.
 | 
						||
For example, a compiler must not use <code>*p</code> as temporary storage in this program:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
*p = i + *p/2
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
That is, it must not rewrite the program into this one:
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
*p /= 2
 | 
						||
*p += i
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
If <code>i</code> and <code>*p</code> start equal to 2,
 | 
						||
the original code does <code>*p = 3</code>,
 | 
						||
so a racing thread can read only 2 or 3 from <code>*p</code>.
 | 
						||
The rewritten code does <code>*p = 1</code> and then <code>*p = 3</code>,
 | 
						||
allowing a racing thread to read 1 as well.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Note that all these optimizations are permitted in C/C++ compilers:
 | 
						||
a Go compiler sharing a back end with a C/C++ compiler must take care
 | 
						||
to disable optimizations that are invalid for Go.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Note that the prohibition on introducing data races
 | 
						||
does not apply if the compiler can prove that the races
 | 
						||
do not affect correct execution on the target platform.
 | 
						||
For example, on essentially all CPUs, it is valid to rewrite
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
n := 0
 | 
						||
for i := 0; i < m; i++ {
 | 
						||
	n += *shared
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
into:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<pre>
 | 
						||
n := 0
 | 
						||
local := *shared
 | 
						||
for i := 0; i < m; i++ {
 | 
						||
	n += local
 | 
						||
}
 | 
						||
</pre>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
provided it can be proved that <code>*shared</code> will not fault on access,
 | 
						||
because the potential added read will not affect any existing concurrent reads or writes.
 | 
						||
On the other hand, the rewrite would not be valid in a source-to-source translator.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
Go programmers writing data-race-free programs can rely on
 | 
						||
sequentially consistent execution of those programs,
 | 
						||
just as in essentially all other modern programming languages.
 | 
						||
</p>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
<p>
 | 
						||
When it comes to programs with races,
 | 
						||
both programmers and compilers should remember the advice:
 | 
						||
don't be clever.
 | 
						||
</p>
 |