Add a sequenced worker pool

base/threading/sequenced_worker_pool.cc

+//    Copyright (c) 2011 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#include "base/threading/sequenced_worker_pool.h"
+
+#include <deque>
+#include <set>
+
+#include "base/atomicops.h"
+#include "base/bind.h"
+#include "base/memory/scoped_ptr.h"
+#include "base/metrics/histogram.h"
+#include "base/stringprintf.h"
+#include "base/synchronization/condition_variable.h"
+#include "base/threading/simple_thread.h"
+#include "base/threading/thread.h"
+
+namespace base {
+
+namespace {
+
+struct SequencedTask {
+  int sequence_token_id;
+  SequencedWorkerPool::WorkerShutdown shutdown_behavior;
+  tracked_objects::Location location;
+  base::Closure task;
+};
+
+}  // namespace
+
+// Worker ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class SequencedWorkerPool::Worker : public base::SimpleThread {
+ public:
+  Worker(SequencedWorkerPool::Inner* inner,
+         int thread_number,
+         const std::string& thread_name_prefix);
+  ~Worker();
+
+  // SimpleThread implementation. This actually runs the background thread.
+  virtual void Run();
+
+ private:
+  SequencedWorkerPool::Inner* inner_;
+  SequencedWorkerPool::WorkerShutdown current_shutdown_mode_;
+
+  DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(Worker);
+};
+
+
+// Inner ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class SequencedWorkerPool::Inner
+    : public base::RefCountedThreadSafe<SequencedWorkerPool::Inner> {
+ public:
+  Inner(size_t max_threads, const std::string& thread_name_prefix);
+  virtual ~Inner();
+
+  // Backends for SequenceWorkerPool.
+  SequenceToken GetSequenceToken();
+  SequenceToken GetNamedSequenceToken(const std::string& name);
+  bool PostTask(int sequence_token_id,
+                SequencedWorkerPool::WorkerShutdown shutdown_behavior,
+                const tracked_objects::Location& from_here,
+                const base::Closure& task);
+  void Shutdown();
+  void SetTestingObserver(SequencedWorkerPool::TestingObserver* observer);
+
+  // Runs the worker loop on the background thread.
+  void ThreadLoop(Worker* this_worker);
+
+ private:
+  // The calling code should clear the given delete_these_oustide_lock
+  // vector the next time the lock is released. See the implementation for
+  // a more detailed description.
+  bool GetWork(SequencedTask* task,
+               std::vector<base::Closure>* delete_these_outside_lock);
+
+  // Peforms init and cleanup around running the given task. WillRun...
+  // returns the value from PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfNecessary.
+  // The calling code should call FinishStartingAdditionalThread once the
+  // lock is released if the return values is nonzero.
+  int WillRunWorkerTask(const SequencedTask& task);
+  void DidRunWorkerTask(const SequencedTask& task);
+
+  // Returns true if there are no threads currently running the given
+  // sequence token.
+  bool IsSequenceTokenRunnable(int sequence_token_id) const;
+
+  // Checks if all threads are busy and the addition of one more could run an
+  // additional task waiting in the queue. This must be called from within
+  // the lock.
+  //
+  // If another thread is helpful, this will mark the thread as being in the
+  // process of starting and returns the index of the new thread which will be
+  // 0 or more. The caller should then call FinishStartingAdditionalThread to
+  // complete initialization once the lock is released.
+  //
+  // If another thread is not necessary, returne 0;
+  //
+  // See the implementedion for more.
+  int PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful();
+
+  // The second part of thread creation after
+  // PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful with the thread number it
+  // generated. This actually creates the thread and should be called outside
+  // the lock to avoid blocking important work starting a thread in the lock.
+  void FinishStartingAdditionalThread(int thread_number);
+
+  // Checks whether there is work left that's blocking shutdown. Must be
+  // called inside the lock.
+  bool CanShutdown() const;
+
+  // The last sequence number used. Managed by GetSequenceToken, since this
+  // only does threadsafe increment operations, you do not need to hold the
+  // lock.
+  volatile base::subtle::Atomic32 last_sequence_number_;
+
+  // This lock protects |everything in this class|. Do not read or modify
+  // anything without holding this lock. Do not block while holding this
+  // lock.
+  base::Lock lock_;
+
+  // Condition variable used to wake up worker threads when a task is runnable.
+  base::ConditionVariable cond_var_;
+
+  // The maximum number of worker threads we'll create.
+  size_t max_threads_;
+
+  std::string thread_name_prefix_;
+
+  // Associates all known sequence token names with their IDs.
+  std::map<std::string, int> named_sequence_tokens_;
+
+  // Owning pointers to all threads we've created so far. Since we lazily
+  // create threads, this may be less than max_threads_ and will be initially
+  // empty.
+  std::vector<linked_ptr<Worker> > threads_;
+
+  // Set to true when we're in the process of creating another thread.
+  // See PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful for more.
+  bool thread_being_created_;
+
+  // Number of threads currently waiting for work.
+  size_t waiting_thread_count_;
+
+  // Number of threads currently running tasks that have the BLOCK_SHUTDOWN
+  // flag set.
+  size_t blocking_shutdown_thread_count_;
+
+  // In-order list of all pending tasks. These are tasks waiting for a thread
+  // to run on or that are blocked on a previous task in their sequence.
+  //
+  // We maintain the pending_task_count_ separately for metrics because
+  // list.size() can be linear time.
+  std::list<SequencedTask> pending_tasks_;
+  size_t pending_task_count_;
+
+  // Number of tasks in the pending_tasks_ list that are marked as blocking
+  // shutdown.
+  size_t blocking_shutdown_pending_task_count_;
+
+  // Lists all sequence tokens currently executing.
+  std::set<int> current_sequences_;
+
+  // Set when the app is terminating and no further tasks should be allowed,
+  // though we may still be running existing tasks.
+  bool terminating_;
+
+  // Set when Shutdown is called to do some assertions.
+  bool shutdown_called_;
+
+  SequencedWorkerPool::TestingObserver* testing_observer_;
+};
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::Worker::Worker(SequencedWorkerPool::Inner* inner,
+                                    int thread_number,
+                                    const std::string& prefix)
+    : base::SimpleThread(
+          prefix + StringPrintf("Worker%d", thread_number).c_str()),
+      inner_(inner),
+      current_shutdown_mode_(SequencedWorkerPool::CONTINUE_ON_SHUTDOWN) {
+  Start();
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::Worker::~Worker() {
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::Worker::Run() {
+  // Just jump back to the Inner object to run the thread, since it has all the
+  // tracking information and queues. It might be more natural to implement
+  // using DelegateSimpleThread and have Inner implement the Delegate to avoid
+  // having these worker objects at all, but that method lacks the ability to
+  // send thread-specific information easily to the thread loop.
+  inner_->ThreadLoop(this);
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::Inner(size_t max_threads,
+                                  const std::string& thread_name_prefix)
+    : last_sequence_number_(0),
+      lock_(),
+      cond_var_(&lock_),
+      max_threads_(max_threads),
+      thread_name_prefix_(thread_name_prefix),
+      thread_being_created_(false),
+      waiting_thread_count_(0),
+      blocking_shutdown_thread_count_(0),
+      pending_task_count_(0),
+      blocking_shutdown_pending_task_count_(0),
+      terminating_(false),
+      shutdown_called_(false) {
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::~Inner() {
+  // You must call Shutdown() before destroying the pool.
+  DCHECK(shutdown_called_);
+
+  // Need to explicitly join with the threads before they're destroyed or else
+  // they will be running when our object is half torn down.
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < threads_.size(); i++)
+    threads_[i]->Join();
+  threads_.clear();
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::SequenceToken
+SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::GetSequenceToken() {
+  base::subtle::Atomic32 result =
+      base::subtle::NoBarrier_AtomicIncrement(&last_sequence_number_, 1);
+  return SequenceToken(static_cast<int>(result));
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::SequenceToken
+SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::GetNamedSequenceToken(
+    const std::string& name) {
+  base::AutoLock lock(lock_);
+  std::map<std::string, int>::const_iterator found =
+      named_sequence_tokens_.find(name);
+  if (found != named_sequence_tokens_.end())
+    return SequenceToken(found->second);  // Got an existing one.
+
+  // Create a new one for this name.
+  SequenceToken result = GetSequenceToken();
+  named_sequence_tokens_.insert(std::make_pair(name, result.id_));
+  return result;
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::PostTask(
+    int sequence_token_id,
+    SequencedWorkerPool::WorkerShutdown shutdown_behavior,
+    const tracked_objects::Location& from_here,
+    const base::Closure& task) {
+  SequencedTask sequenced;
+  sequenced.sequence_token_id = sequence_token_id;
+  sequenced.shutdown_behavior = shutdown_behavior;
+  sequenced.location = from_here;
+  sequenced.task = task;
+
+  int create_thread_id = 0;
+  {
+    base::AutoLock lock(lock_);
+    if (terminating_)
+      return false;
+
+    pending_tasks_.push_back(sequenced);
+    pending_task_count_++;
+    if (shutdown_behavior == BLOCK_SHUTDOWN)
+      blocking_shutdown_pending_task_count_++;
+
+    create_thread_id = PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful();
+  }
+
+  // Actually start the additional thread or signal an existing one now that
+  // we're outside the lock.
+  if (create_thread_id)
+    FinishStartingAdditionalThread(create_thread_id);
+  else
+    cond_var_.Signal();
+
+  return true;
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::Shutdown() {
+  if (shutdown_called_)
+    return;
+  shutdown_called_ = true;
+
+  // Mark us as terminated and go through and drop all tasks that aren't
+  // required to run on shutdown. Since no new tasks will get posted once the
+  // terminated flag is set, this ensures that all remaining tasks are required
+  // for shutdown whenever the termianted_ flag is set.
+  {
+    base::AutoLock lock(lock_);
+    DCHECK(!terminating_);
+    terminating_ = true;
+
+    // Tickle the threads. This will wake up a waiting one so it will know that
+    // it can exit, which in turn will wake up any other waiting ones.
+    cond_var_.Signal();
+
+    // There are no pending or running tasks blocking shutdown, we're done.
+    if (CanShutdown())
+      return;
+  }
+
+  // If we get here, we know we're either waiting on a blocking task that's
+  // currently running, waiting on a blocking task that hasn't been scheduled
+  // yet, or both. Block on the "queue empty" event to know when all tasks are
+  // complete. This must be done outside the lock.
+  if (testing_observer_)
+    testing_observer_->WillWaitForShutdown();
+
+  base::TimeTicks shutdown_wait_begin = base::TimeTicks::Now();
+
+  // Wait for no more tasks.
+  {
+    base::AutoLock lock(lock_);
+    while (!CanShutdown())
+      cond_var_.Wait();
+  }
+  UMA_HISTOGRAM_TIMES("SequencedWorkerPool.ShutdownDelayTime",
+                      base::TimeTicks::Now() - shutdown_wait_begin);
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::SetTestingObserver(
+    SequencedWorkerPool::TestingObserver* observer) {
+  base::AutoLock lock(lock_);
+  testing_observer_ = observer;
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::ThreadLoop(Worker* this_worker) {
+  {
+    base::AutoLock lock(lock_);
+    DCHECK(thread_being_created_);
+    thread_being_created_ = false;
+    threads_.push_back(linked_ptr<Worker>(this_worker));

[jar (doing other things), 2011/12/31 20:27:27]

This is nicer and cleaner too.  I like that it is right next to the clearing of
thread_being_created_.

+
+    while (true) {
+      // See GetWork for what delete_these_outside_lock is doing.
+      SequencedTask task;
+      std::vector<base::Closure> delete_these_outside_lock;
+      if (GetWork(&task, &delete_these_outside_lock)) {
+        int new_thread_id = WillRunWorkerTask(task);
+        {
+          base::AutoUnlock unlock(lock_);
+          cond_var_.Signal();
+          delete_these_outside_lock.clear();
+
+          // Complete thread creation outside the lock if necessary.
+          if (new_thread_id)
+            FinishStartingAdditionalThread(new_thread_id);
+
+          task.task.Run();
+
+          // Make sure our task is erased outside the lock for the same reason
+          // we do this with delete_these_oustide_lock.
+          task.task = base::Closure();
+        }
+        DidRunWorkerTask(task);  // Must be done inside the lock.
+      } else {
+        // When we're terminating and there's no more work, we can shut down.
+        // You can't get more tasks posted once terminating_ is set. There may
+        // be some tasks stuck behind running ones with the same sequence
+        // token, but additional threads won't help this case.
+        if (terminating_)
+          break;
+        waiting_thread_count_++;
+        cond_var_.Wait();
+        waiting_thread_count_--;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // We noticed we should exit. Wake up the next worker so it knows it should
+  // exit as well (because the Shutdown() code only signals once).
+  cond_var_.Signal();
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::GetWork(
+    SequencedTask* task,
+    std::vector<base::Closure>* delete_these_outside_lock) {
+  lock_.AssertAcquired();
+
+  DCHECK_EQ(pending_tasks_.size(), pending_task_count_);
+  UMA_HISTOGRAM_COUNTS_100("SequencedWorkerPool.TaskCount",
+                           static_cast<int>(pending_task_count_));
+
+  // Find the next task with a sequence token that's not currently in use.
+  // If the token is in use, that means another thread is running something
+  // in that sequence, and we can't run it without going out-of-order.
+  //
+  // This algorithm is simple and fair, but inefficient in some cases. For
+  // example, say somebody schedules 1000 slow tasks with the same sequence
+  // number. We'll have to go through all those tasks each time we feel like
+  // there might be work to schedule. If this proves to be a problem, we
+  // should make this more efficient.
+  //
+  // One possible enhancement would be to keep a map from sequence ID to a
+  // list of pending but currently blocked SequencedTasks for that ID.
+  // When a worker finishes a task of one sequence token, it can pick up the
+  // next one from that token right away.
+  //
+  // This may lead to starvation if there are sufficient numbers of sequences
+  // in use. To alleviate this, we could add an incrementing priority counter
+  // to each SequencedTask. Then maintain a priority_queue of all runnable
+  // tasks, sorted by priority counter. When a sequenced task is completed
+  // we would pop the head element off of that tasks pending list and add it
+  // to the priority queue. Then we would run the first item in the priority
+  // queue.
+  bool found_task = false;
+  int unrunnable_tasks = 0;
+  std::list<SequencedTask>::iterator i = pending_tasks_.begin();
+  while (i != pending_tasks_.end()) {
+    if (!IsSequenceTokenRunnable(i->sequence_token_id)) {
+      unrunnable_tasks++;
+      ++i;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (terminating_ && i->shutdown_behavior != BLOCK_SHUTDOWN) {
+      // We're shutting down and the task we just found isn't blocking
+      // shutdown. Delete it and get more work.
+      //
+      // Note that we do not want to delete unrunnable tasks. Deleting a task
+      // can have side effects (like freeing some objects) and deleting a
+      // task that's supposed to run after one that's currently running could
+      // cause an obscure crash.
+      //
+      // We really want to delete these tasks outside the lock in case the
+      // closures are holding refs to objects that want to post work from
+      // their destructorss (which would deadlock). The closures are
+      // internally refcounted, so we just need to keep a copy of them alive
+      // until the lock is exited. The calling code can just clear() the
+      // vector they passed to us once the lock is exited to make this
+      // happen.
+      delete_these_outside_lock->push_back(i->task);
+      i = pending_tasks_.erase(i);
+      pending_task_count_--;
+    } else {
+      // Found a runnable task.
+      *task = *i;
+      i = pending_tasks_.erase(i);
+      pending_task_count_--;
+      if (task->shutdown_behavior == BLOCK_SHUTDOWN)
+        blocking_shutdown_pending_task_count_--;
+
+      found_task = true;
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Track the number of tasks we had to skip over to see if we should be
+  // making this more efficient. If this number ever becomes large or is
+  // frequently "some", we should consider the optimization above.
+  UMA_HISTOGRAM_COUNTS_100("SequencedWorkerPool.UnrunnableTaskCount",
+                           unrunnable_tasks);
+  return found_task;
+}
+
+int SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::WillRunWorkerTask(const SequencedTask& task) {
+  lock_.AssertAcquired();
+
+  // Mark the task's sequence number as in use.
+  if (task.sequence_token_id)
+    current_sequences_.insert(task.sequence_token_id);
+
+  if (task.shutdown_behavior == SequencedWorkerPool::BLOCK_SHUTDOWN)
+    blocking_shutdown_thread_count_++;
+
+  // We just picked up a task. Since StartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful only
+  // creates a new thread if there is no free one, there is a race when posting
+  // tasks that many tasks could have been posted before a thread started
+  // running them, so only one thread would have been created. So we also check
+  // whether we should create more threads after removing our task from the
+  // queue, which also has the nice side effect of creating the workers from
+  // background threads rather than the main thread of the app.
+  //
+  // If another thread wasn't created, we want to wake up an existing thread
+  // if there is one waiting to pick up the next task.
+  //
+  // Note that we really need to do this *before* running the task, not
+  // after. Otherwise, if more than one task is posted, the creation of the
+  // second thread (since we only create one at a time) will be blocked by
+  // the execution of the first task, which could be arbitrarily long.
+  return PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful();
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::DidRunWorkerTask(const SequencedTask& task) {
+  lock_.AssertAcquired();
+
+  if (task.shutdown_behavior == SequencedWorkerPool::BLOCK_SHUTDOWN) {
+    DCHECK_GT(blocking_shutdown_thread_count_, 0u);
+    blocking_shutdown_thread_count_--;
+  }
+
+  if (task.sequence_token_id)
+    current_sequences_.erase(task.sequence_token_id);
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::IsSequenceTokenRunnable(
+    int sequence_token_id) const {
+  lock_.AssertAcquired();
+  return !sequence_token_id ||
+      current_sequences_.find(sequence_token_id) ==
+          current_sequences_.end();
+}
+
+int SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful() {
+  // How thread creation works:
+  //
+  // We'de like to avoid creating threads with the lock held. However, we
+  // need to be sure that we have an accurate accounting of the threads for
+  // proper Joining and deltion on shutdown.
+  //
+  // We need to figure out if we need another thread with the lock held, which
+  // is what this function does. It then marks us as in the process of creating
+  // a thread. When we do shutdown, we wait until the thread_being_created_
+  // flag is cleared, which ensures that the new thread is properly added to
+  // all the data structures and we can't leak it. Once shutdown starts, we'll
+  // refuse to create more threads or they would be leaked.
+  //
+  // Note that this creates a mostly benign race condition on shutdown that
+  // will cause fewer workers to be created than one would expect. It isn't
+  // much of an issue in real life, but affects some tests. Since we only spawn
+  // one worker at a time, the following sequence of events can happen:
+  //
+  //  1. Main thread posts a bunch of unrelated tasks that would normally be
+  //     run on separate threads.
+  //  2. The first task post causes us to start a worker. Other tasks do not
+  //     cause a worker to start since one is pending.
+  //  3. Main thread initiates shutdown.
+  //  4. No more threads are created since the terminating_ flag is set.
+  //
+  // The result is that one may expect that max_threads_ workers to be created
+  // given the workload, but in reality fewer may be created because the
+  // sequence of thread creation on the background threads is racing with the
+  // shutdown call.
+  if (!terminating_ &&
+      !thread_being_created_ &&
+      threads_.size() < max_threads_ &&

[jar (doing other things), 2011/12/31 20:27:27]

Thinking about it it more, I remembered that you're protected from this race by
the boolean thread_being_created_.  While that is set, we never test
threads_.size(), which probably avoids the race.

+      waiting_thread_count_ == 0) {
+    // We could use an additional thread if there's work to be done.
+    for (std::list<SequencedTask>::iterator i = pending_tasks_.begin();
+         i != pending_tasks_.end(); ++i) {
+      if (IsSequenceTokenRunnable(i->sequence_token_id)) {
+        // Found a runnable task, mark the thread as being started.
+        thread_being_created_ = true;
+        return static_cast<int>(threads_.size() + 1);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::FinishStartingAdditionalThread(
+    int thread_number) {
+  // Called outside of the lock.
+  DCHECK(thread_number > 0);
+  Worker* new_thread = new Worker(this, thread_number, thread_name_prefix_);
+
+  // The worker is assigned to the list when the thread actually starts, which
+  // will manage the memory of the pointer.
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::Inner::CanShutdown() const {
+  lock_.AssertAcquired();
+  // See PrepareToStartAdditionalThreadIfHelpful for how thread creation works.
+  return !thread_being_created_ &&
+         blocking_shutdown_thread_count_ == 0 &&
+         blocking_shutdown_pending_task_count_ == 0;
+}
+
+// SequencedWorkerPool --------------------------------------------------------
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::SequencedWorkerPool(size_t max_threads,
+                                         const std::string& thread_name_prefix)
+    : inner_(new Inner(max_threads, thread_name_prefix)) {
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::~SequencedWorkerPool() {
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::SequenceToken SequencedWorkerPool::GetSequenceToken() {
+  return inner_->GetSequenceToken();
+}
+
+SequencedWorkerPool::SequenceToken SequencedWorkerPool::GetNamedSequenceToken(
+    const std::string& name) {
+  return inner_->GetNamedSequenceToken(name);
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::PostWorkerTask(
+    const tracked_objects::Location& from_here,
+    const base::Closure& task) {
+  return inner_->PostTask(0, BLOCK_SHUTDOWN, from_here, task);
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::PostWorkerTaskWithShutdownBehavior(
+    const tracked_objects::Location& from_here,
+    const base::Closure& task,
+    WorkerShutdown shutdown_behavior) {
+  return inner_->PostTask(0, shutdown_behavior, from_here, task);
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::PostSequencedWorkerTask(
+    SequenceToken sequence_token,
+    const tracked_objects::Location& from_here,
+    const base::Closure& task) {
+  return inner_->PostTask(sequence_token.id_, BLOCK_SHUTDOWN,
+                          from_here, task);
+}
+
+bool SequencedWorkerPool::PostSequencedWorkerTaskWithShutdownBehavior(
+    SequenceToken sequence_token,
+    const tracked_objects::Location& from_here,
+    const base::Closure& task,
+    WorkerShutdown shutdown_behavior) {
+  return inner_->PostTask(sequence_token.id_, shutdown_behavior,
+                          from_here, task);
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::Shutdown() {
+  inner_->Shutdown();
+}
+
+void SequencedWorkerPool::SetTestingObserver(TestingObserver* observer) {
+  inner_->SetTestingObserver(observer);
+}
+
+}  // namespace base