<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      xmlns:its="http://www.w3.org/2005/11/its"
      xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude"
      type="topic"
      id="threading">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="index#specific-how-tos"/>

    <credit type="author copyright">
      <name>Philip Withnall</name>
      <email its:translate="no">philip.withnall@collabora.co.uk</email>
      <years>2015</years>
    </credit>

    <include href="cc-by-sa-3-0.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>

    <desc>Moving computation out of the main thread into worker threads</desc>
  </info>

  <title>Threading</title>

  <synopsis>
    <title>Summary</title>

    <list>
      <item><p>
        Do not use threads if at all possible.
        (<link xref="#when-to-use-threading"/>)
      </p></item>
      <item><p>
        If threads have to be used, use <code>GTask</code> or
        <code>GThreadPool</code> and isolate the threaded code as much as
        possible.
        (<link xref="#using-threading"/>)
      </p></item>
      <item><p>
        Use <code>g_thread_join()</code> to avoid leaking thread resources if
        using <code>GThread</code> manually.
        (<link xref="#using-threading"/>)
      </p></item>
      <item><p>
        Be careful about the <code>GMainContext</code> which code is executed in
        if using threads. Executing code in the wrong context can cause race
        conditions, or block the main loop.
        (<link xref="#using-threading"/>)
      </p></item>
    </list>
  </synopsis>

  <section id="when-to-use-threading">
    <title>When to Use Threading</title>

    <p>
      When writing projects using GLib, the default approach should be to
      <em style="strong">never use threads</em>. Instead, make proper use of the
      <link xref="main-contexts">GLib main context</link> which, through the use
      of <link xref="async-programming">asynchronous operations</link>,
      allows most blocking I/O operations to continue in the background while
      the main context continues to process other events. Analysis, review and
      debugging of threaded code becomes very hard, very quickly.
    </p>

    <p>
      Threading should only be necessary when using an external library which
      has blocking functions which need to be called from GLib code. If the
      library provides a non-blocking alternative, or one which integrates with
      a
      <link href="http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/functions/poll.html"><code>poll()</code></link>
      loop, that should be used in preference. If the blocking function really
      must be used, a thin wrapper should be written for it to convert it to the
      normal
      <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/GAsyncResult.html"><code>GAsyncResult</code>
      style</link> of GLib asynchronous function, running the blocking operation
      in a worker thread.
    </p>

    <example>
      <p>
        For example:
      </p>
      <code mime="text/x-csrc">
int
some_blocking_function (void *param1,
                        void *param2);
</code>
      <p>
        Should be wrapped as:
      </p>
      <code mime="text/x-csrc">
void
some_blocking_function_async (void                 *param1,
                              void                 *param2,
                              GCancellable         *cancellable,
                              GAsyncReadyCallback   callback,
                              gpointer              user_data);
int
some_blocking_function_finish (GAsyncResult        *result,
                               GError             **error);
</code>

      <p>
        With an implementation something like:
      </p>
      <code mime="text/x-csrc">/* Closure for the call’s parameters. */
typedef struct {
  void *param1;
  void *param2;
} SomeBlockingFunctionData;

static void
some_blocking_function_data_free (SomeBlockingFunctionData *data)
{
  free_param (data->param1);
  free_param (data->param2);

  g_free (data);
}

static void
some_blocking_function_thread_cb (GTask         *task,
                                  gpointer       source_object,
                                  gpointer       task_data,
                                  GCancellable  *cancellable)
{
  SomeBlockingFunctionData *data = task_data;
  int retval;

  /* Handle cancellation. */
  if (g_task_return_error_if_cancelled (task))
    {
      return;
    }

  /* Run the blocking function. */
  retval = some_blocking_function (data->param1, data->param2);
  g_task_return_int (task, retval);
}

void
some_blocking_function_async (void                 *param1,
                              void                 *param2,
                              GCancellable         *cancellable,
                              GAsyncReadyCallback   callback,
                              gpointer              user_data)
{
  GTask *task = NULL;  /* owned */
  SomeBlockingFunctionData *data = NULL;  /* owned */

  g_return_if_fail (validate_param (param1));
  g_return_if_fail (validate_param (param2));
  g_return_if_fail (cancellable == NULL || G_IS_CANCELLABLE (cancellable));

  task = g_task_new (NULL, cancellable, callback, user_data);
  g_task_set_source_tag (task, some_blocking_function_async);

  /* Cancellation should be handled manually using mechanisms specific to
   * some_blocking_function(). */
  g_task_set_return_on_cancel (task, FALSE);

  /* Set up a closure containing the call’s parameters. Copy them to avoid
   * locking issues between the calling thread and the worker thread. */
  data = g_new0 (SomeBlockingFunctionData, 1);
  data->param1 = copy_param (param1);
  data->param2 = copy_param (param2);

  g_task_set_task_data (task, data, some_blocking_function_data_free);

  /* Run the task in a worker thread and return immediately while that continues
   * in the background. When it’s done it will call @callback in the current
   * thread default main context. */
  g_task_run_in_thread (task, some_blocking_function_thread_cb);

  g_object_unref (task);
}

int
some_blocking_function_finish (GAsyncResult  *result,
                               GError       **error)
{
  g_return_val_if_fail (g_task_is_valid (result,
                                         some_blocking_function_async), -1);
  g_return_val_if_fail (error == NULL || *error == NULL, -1);

  return g_task_propagate_int (G_TASK (result), error);
}</code>
      <p>
        See the
        <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/GAsyncResult.html"><code>GAsyncResult</code>
        documentation</link> for more details. A simple way to implement the
        worker thread is to use
        <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/GTask.html"><code>GTask</code></link>
        and <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/GTask.html#g-task-run-in-thread"><code>g_task_run_in_thread()</code></link>.
        (See also: <link xref="main-contexts#gtask"/>.)
      </p>
    </example>
  </section>

  <section id="using-threading">
    <title>Using Threading</title>

    <p>
      If <code>GTask</code> is not suitable for writing the worker thread, a
      more low-level approach must be used. This should be considered very
      carefully, as it is very easy to get threading code wrong in ways which
      will unpredictably cause bugs at runtime, cause deadlocks, or consume too
      many resources and terminate the program.
    </p>

    <p>
      A full manual on writing threaded code is beyond the scope of this
      document, but here are a number of guidelines to follow which should
      reduce the potential for bugs in threading code. The overriding principle
      is to reduce the amount of code and data which can be affected by
      threading — for example, reducing the number of threads, the complexity of
      worker thread implementation, and the amount of data shared between
      threads.
    </p>

    <list>
      <item>
        <p>
          Use <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-Thread-Pools.html"><code>GThreadPool</code></link>
          instead of manually creating
          <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-Threads.html"><code>GThread</code>s</link>
          if possible. <code>GThreadPool</code> supports a work queue, limits on
          the number of spawned threads, and automatically joins finished
          threads so they are not leaked.
        </p>
      </item>
      <item>
        <p>
          If it is not possible to use a <code>GThreadPool</code> (which is
          rarely the case):
        </p>

        <list>
          <item>
            <p>
              Use <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-Threads.html#g-thread-try-new"><code>g_thread_try_new()</code></link>
              to spawn threads, instead of
              <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-Threads.html#g-thread-new"><code>g_thread_new()</code></link>,
              so errors due to the system running out of threads can be handled
              gracefully rather than unconditionally aborting the program.
            </p>
          </item>
          <item>
            <p>
              Explicitly join threads using
              <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-Threads.html#g-thread-join"><code>g_thread_join()</code></link>
              to avoid leaking the thread resources.
            </p>
          </item>
        </list>
      </item>
      <item>
        <p>
          Use message passing to transfer data between threads, rather than
          manual locking with mutexes. <code>GThreadPool</code> explicitly
          supports this with
          <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-Thread-Pools.html#g-thread-pool-push"><code>g_thread_pool_push()</code></link>.
        </p>
      </item>
      <item>
        <p>
          If mutexes must be used:
        </p>

        <list>
          <item>
            <p>
              Isolate threading code as much as possible, keeping mutexes
              private within classes, and tightly bound to very specific class
              members.
            </p>
          </item>
          <item>
            <p>
              All mutexes should be clearly commented beside their declaration,
              indicating which other structures or variables they protect access
              to. Similarly, those variables should be commented saying that
              they should <em>only</em> be accessed with that mutex held.
            </p>
          </item>
        </list>
      </item>
      <item>
        <p>
          Be careful about interactions between main contexts and threads. For
          example,
          <link href="https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-The-Main-Event-Loop.html#g-timeout-add-seconds"><code>g_timeout_add_seconds()</code></link>
          adds a timeout <em>to be executed in the global default main
          context</em>, which is being run in the main thread, <em>not
          necessarily</em> the current thread. Getting this wrong can mean that
          work intended for a worker thread accidentally ends up being executed
          in the main thread anyway. (See also:
          <link xref="main-contexts#default-contexts"/>.)
        </p>
      </item>
    </list>
  </section>

  <section id="debugging">
    <title>Debugging</title>

    <p>
      Debugging threading issues is tricky, both because they are hard to
      reproduce, and because they are hard to reason about. This is one of the
      big reasons for avoiding using threads in the first place.
    </p>

    <p>
      However, if a threading issue does arise,
      <link xref="tooling#helgrind-and-drd">Valgrind’s drd and helgrind tools
      are useful</link>.
    </p>
  </section>
</page>
