Track down race conditions with Go
Programming Snapshot – Racing Goroutines
© Lead Image © alphaspirit, 123RF.com
If program parts running in parallel keep interfering with each other, you may have a race condition. Mike Schilli shows how to instruct the Go compiler to detect these conditions and how to avoid them in the first place.
If programmers are not careful, program parts that are running in parallel will constantly get in each other's way, whether as processes, threads, or goroutines. If you leave the order in which system components read or modify data to chance, you are adding time bombs to your code. They will blow up sooner or later, leaving you with runtime errors that are difficult to troubleshoot. But how do you avoid them?
The common assumption that components will run in the same order that a program calls them is a fallacy – one easily refuted with an example such as in Listing 1. But coincidence can also be a factor. It is quite possible for something to work once but then crash after a small, and often unrelated, change to the code. The load on the system you are using can also play a role: Something may work flawlessly in slack times but fall apart unexpectedly under a heavy load.
The fact that unsynchronized goroutines do not run in the order in which they are defined, even if the program starts them one after the other, is nicely illustrated by Listing 1 [1] and the output in the upper part of Figure 1. Although the for loop starts goroutine first, followed by 1, then 2, and so on, as defined by the index numbers in i, the upper part of Figure 1 makes it clear from the compiled program's output that chaos reigns, and the goroutines write their messages to the output as a wildly confusing mess.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
There's a New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle is a Linux AI assistant that can work with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.