When should you prefer biased locking (historic) and when should you avoid it?

Biased locking is a technique in Java that optimizes the performance of thread synchronization by allowing a thread to acquire a lock without requiring mutual exclusion. It is especially useful in scenarios where a lock is mostly accessed by a single thread. Below are the situations when you might prefer to use biased locking and when you should avoid it:

When to Prefer Biased Locking:

Single Thread Access: If you have a critical section of code that is primarily accessed by a single thread, biased locking can improve performance significantly.
Low Contention: In cases where there is little to no contention for locks, biased locking can reduce the overhead of obtaining and releasing locks.
Frequent Lock Ownership: When the same thread frequently acquires and releases the same lock, biased locking can provide efficiency since it skips some of the locking overhead.

When to Avoid Biased Locking:

High Contention: In situations where multiple threads need access to the synchronized block, biased locking can lead to performance degradation due to complex lock revocation.
Lock Revocation: When threads frequently compete for locks, the overhead of revocation can negate the benefits of biased locking.
Complex Thread Interactions: If your application has complex interactions and dynamic locking patterns, it may be better to use lightweight locking mechanisms to avoid the pitfalls of biased locking.

Example Scenario:


        <?php
        class Example {
            private $lock;

            public function criticalSection() {
                // Acquire a biased lock
                synchronized($this->lock) {
                    // Perform operations that require synchronization
                }
            }
        }
        ?>

When should you prefer biased locking (historic) and when should you avoid it?

When to Prefer Biased Locking:

When to Avoid Biased Locking:

Example Scenario:

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When should you prefer biased locking (historic) and when should you avoid it?

When to Prefer Biased Locking:

When to Avoid Biased Locking:

Example Scenario:

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Popular Topics

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