Re: Singleton_pattern and Thread Safety

From:
"Fred Zwarts" <F.Zwarts@KVI.nl>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:35:14 +0100
Message-ID:
<idtks2$j9$1@news.albasani.net>
"Leigh Johnston" <leigh@i42.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ZeKdnYPixIT10p_QnZ2dnUVZ8rqdnZ2d@giganews.com

On 10/12/2010 15:54, Fred Zwarts wrote:

"Leigh Johnston"<leigh@i42.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bsSdnZQqkfvX2Z_QnZ2dnUVZ8o-dnZ2d@giganews.com

On 10/12/2010 15:03, Fred Zwarts wrote:

"Leigh Johnston"<leigh@i42.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ItOdncr4ttt9qp_QnZ2dnUVZ8gSdnZ2d@giganews.com

On 10/12/2010 13:59, Fred Zwarts wrote:

"Leigh Johnston"<leigh@i42.co.uk> wrote in message
news:rsudnaHfQqi7tZ_QnZ2dnUVZ8q-dnZ2d@giganews.com

On 10/12/2010 09:52, James Kanze wrote:

On Dec 9, 5:05 pm, Marcel =

M=FCller<news.5.ma...@spamgourmet.com>

wrote:

Pallav singh wrote:

i have a query using given singleton that its not thread
Safe ?

 

Since function getInstance() is returning the static object
singleton class AS far my knowlege, static object is
intialized only first time when control reaches there. The
second time control Thread reached there , compiler skipps
the initialization part.

 

That's right.

 

// Source file (.cpp)
Singleton& Singleton::getInstance()
{
      // Static Variables are initialized only first time
      Thread of // Execution reaches here first time.
      static Singleton instance;

 

This line is not guaranteed to be thread safe. In some
implementation it is safe.

 
In practice, it will be thread safe *if* the first call to
getInstance occurs before threading starts. If threading
doesn't start before entering main (normally an acceptable
restriction), then just declaring a variable with static
lifetime which is initialized by getInstance() is sufficient,
e.g. (at namespace scope):
 
        Singleton* dummyForInitialization
=&Singleton::getInstance();
 

      return instance;
}

 
Note that the above still risks order of destruction issues;
it's more common to not destruct the singleton ever, with
something like:
 
        namespace {
 
        Singleton* ourInstance =&Singleton::instance();
 
        Singleton&
        Singleton::instance()
        {
            if (ourInstance == NULL)
                ourInstance = new Singleton;
            return *ourInstance;
        }
        }
 
(This solves both problems at once: initializing the variable
with a call to Singleton::instance and ensuring that the
singleton is never destructed.)
 

 
James "Cowboy" Kanze's OO designs includes objects that are
never destructed but leak instead? Interesting. What utter
laziness typical of somebody who probably overuses (abuses) the
singleton pattern. Singleton can be considered harmful (use
rarely not routinely).

 
As far as I can see it does not leak.
Up to the very end of the program the ourInstance pointer keeps
pointing to the object and can be used to access the object.
This is a well known technique to overcome the order of
destruction issue.

 
Of course it is a memory leak the only upside being it is a
singular leak that would be cleaned up by the OS as part of
program termination rather than being an ongoing leak that
continues to consume memory.

 
So, it is a matter of definition whether you want to call that a
leak. Usually something is acalled a leak if an object is no longer
accessible, because the pointer to the object went out of scope, or
was assigned
a diferent value.
 

It is lazy. As far as it being a "well known technique" I have
encountered it before when working on a large project with many
team members but that does not justify its use; it was a
consequence of parallel development of many sub-modules with
insufficient time set aside for proper interop design and too
much risk associated with "fixing" it.

 
It is not necessarily lazy. The order of destruction of global
objects is not always predictable. Why spending time for a complex
solution, if it serves no purpose and makes the code much more
difficult to read?

 
What do you mean by global objects? If you mean objects defined at
namespace scope or static class member objects then you should avoid
having such objects in more than one translation unit modulo the
advice that one should avoid globals as they are definitely
  considered harmful. Singletons are nothing more than disguised
global variables.
 

 

Destruction is the opposite of construction; destruction (proper
cleanup) is not an intractable problem. /delete/ what you /new/.

 
Why? If destruction does not serve any purpose?
Is it a fixed rule so that you don't need to think about it?

 
If you can define construction then you can also define destruction;
why? Code re-use is one reason; e.g. a class which was initially a
singleton may suddenly be required to be instantiated more than
once. A class shouldn't really care about how many instances of it
will be created; ideally all objects should be destroyed on program
termination

 
should, shouldn't, ideally, ... It sounds like an ideology.
 

the only exceptions to this being abnormal program
termination (e.g. unhandled exception) or a program that is supposed
to never terminate.

 
Why don't you object against a program that never terminates?
Isn't that an even bigger leak?
Lazy?
If you can define a start voor a program, than you can define a stop.
Maybe later it may suddenly be required to be stopped.
 
Program termination and object termination (destruction) are
comparable:
Don't waste your time in designing code for things you don't need.
I conclude it is a matter of taste whether it is called laziness of
efficiency.

 
I see little difference between abnormal program termination and a
program that never terminates as far as system-wide object destruction
is concerned. If it is known in advance that a program never
terminates then one can relax the rules slightly if only for the sake
of efficiency if development time is a factor.


If it is known that an object never terminates, one may,
for the same reason, also relax the rules about destructors.

However, one should
always design a class so that is agnostic as to the amount instances
of it that will be made and that it can be explicitly destroyed. I
admit this is an ideal but if you design things properly in the first
place this should happen automatically (i.e. with little thought).


The same holds for coding program termination.
One can define rules here as well:
One should always design a program to be able to terminate properly.
If you design things properly in the first place, this should happen =
automatically.

But I understand that you are able to relax rules.
I respect such an opinion.

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