First Readers Writers Problem Solution in C using Semaphore and Mutex

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What is readers writers problem?

Suppose that a database is to be shared among several concurrent processes. Some of these processes may want only to read the database, whereas others may want to update (that is, to read and write) the database. We distinguish between these two types of processes by referring to the former as readers and to the latter as writers. Obviously, if two readers access the shared data simultaneously, no adverse effects will result. However, if a writer and some other process (either a reader or a writer) access the database simultaneously, chaos may ensue.

To ensure that these difficulties do not arise, we require that the writers have exclusive access to the shared database while writing to the database. This synchronization problem is referred to as the readers-writers problem.

The readers-writers problem has several variations, all involving priorities. The simplest one, referred to as the first readers-writers problem, requires that no reader be kept waiting unless a writer has already obtained permission to use the shared object. In other words, no reader should wait for other readers to finish simply because a writer is waiting.

Pseudocode Solution using Semaphore and Mutex

Initialization

Semaphore wrt = 1; // A binary semaphore that will be used both for mutual exclusion and signalling
Mutex mutex; // Provides mutual exclusion when readcount is being modified
int readcount = 0; // To keep count of the total readers

Writer

wait(wrt);
// Perform write operation
signal(wrt);

READER

wait(mutex);
readcount++;
if(readcount == 1) {
    wait(wrt);
}
signal(mutex);
// Perform read operation

wait(mutex);
readcount--;
if(readcount == 0) {
    signal(wrt);
}
signal(mutex);
  • Writer can only write when the readcount is zero or there are no readers waiting.
  • If the first reader executes wait(wrt) operation before the writer does, then writer gets blocked.
  • Only when the last reader exits, it calls the signal(wrt) operation signalling writer to continue
  • Similarly, when a writer starts writing(readcount=0) then the first reader gets blocked on wait(wrt) and this blocks all the readers.

Solution in C using Semaphore and Mutex

Do read this blog to understand about usage of semaphore and mutex in c: http://faculty.cs.niu.edu/~hutchins/csci480/semaphor.htm

Code github link: https://github.com/codophobia/readers-writers-solution-in-c

#include <pthread.h>
#include <semaphore.h>
#include <stdio.h>

/*
This program provides a possible solution for first readers writers problem using mutex and semaphore.
I have used 10 readers and 5 producers to demonstrate the solution. You can always play with these values.
*/

sem_t wrt;
pthread_mutex_t mutex;
int cnt = 1;
int numreader = 0;

void *writer(void *wno)
{   
    sem_wait(&wrt);
    cnt = cnt*2;
    printf("Writer %d modified cnt to %d\n",(*((int *)wno)),cnt);
    sem_post(&wrt);

}
void *reader(void *rno)
{   
    // Reader acquire the lock before modifying numreader
    pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
    numreader++;
    if(numreader == 1) {
        sem_wait(&wrt); // If this id the first reader, then it will block the writer
    }
    pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
    // Reading Section
    printf("Reader %d: read cnt as %d\n",*((int *)rno),cnt);

    // Reader acquire the lock before modifying numreader
    pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
    numreader--;
    if(numreader == 0) {
        sem_post(&wrt); // If this is the last reader, it will wake up the writer.
    }
    pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
}

int main()
{   

    pthread_t read[10],write[5];
    pthread_mutex_init(&mutex, NULL);
    sem_init(&wrt,0,1);

    int a[10] = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}; //Just used for numbering the producer and consumer

    for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        pthread_create(&read[i], NULL, (void *)reader, (void *)&a[i]);
    }
    for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        pthread_create(&write[i], NULL, (void *)writer, (void *)&a[i]);
    }

    for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        pthread_join(read[i], NULL);
    }
    for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        pthread_join(write[i], NULL);
    }

    pthread_mutex_destroy(&mutex);
    sem_destroy(&wrt);

    return 0;
    
}

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