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How to: Synchronize Concurrent Operations with a Barrier

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The following example shows how to synchronize concurrent tasks with a Barrier.

Example

The purpose of the following program is to count how many iterations (or phases) are required for two threads to each find their half of the solution on the same phase by using a randomizing algorithm to reshuffle the words. After each thread has shuffled its words, the barrier post-phase operation compares the two results to see if the complete sentence has been rendered in correct word order.

//#define TRACE
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace BarrierSimple
{
    class Program
    {
        static string[] words1 = new string[] { "brown",  "jumps", "the", "fox", "quick"};
        static string[] words2 = new string[] { "dog", "lazy","the","over"};
        static string solution = "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.";

        static bool success = false;
        static Barrier barrier = new Barrier(2, (b) =>
        {
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            for (int i = 0; i < words1.Length; i++)
            {
                sb.Append(words1[i]);
                sb.Append(" ");
            }
            for (int i = 0; i < words2.Length; i++)
            {
                sb.Append(words2[i]);

                if(i < words2.Length - 1)
                    sb.Append(" ");
            }
            sb.Append(".");
#if TRACE
            System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine(sb.ToString());
#endif
            Console.CursorLeft = 0;
            Console.Write("Current phase: {0}", barrier.CurrentPhaseNumber);
            if (String.CompareOrdinal(solution, sb.ToString()) == 0)
            {
                success = true;
                Console.WriteLine("\r\nThe solution was found in {0} attempts", barrier.CurrentPhaseNumber);
            }
        });

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            Thread t1 = new Thread(() => Solve(words1));
            Thread t2 = new Thread(() => Solve(words2));
            t1.Start();
            t2.Start();

            // Keep the console window open.
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        // Use Knuth-Fisher-Yates shuffle to randomly reorder each array.
        // For simplicity, we require that both wordArrays be solved in the same phase.
        // Success of right or left side only is not stored and does not count.
        static void Solve(string[] wordArray)
        {
            while(success == false)
            {
                Random random = new Random();
                for (int i = wordArray.Length - 1; i > 0; i--)
                {
                    int swapIndex = random.Next(i + 1);
                    string temp = wordArray[i];
                    wordArray[i] = wordArray[swapIndex];
                    wordArray[swapIndex] = temp;
                }

                // We need to stop here to examine results
                // of all thread activity. This is done in the post-phase
                // delegate that is defined in the Barrier constructor.
                barrier.SignalAndWait();
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Threading.Tasks


Class Program
    Shared words1() = New String() {"brown", "jumps", "the", "fox", "quick"}
    Shared words2() = New String() {"dog", "lazy", "the", "over"}
    Shared solution = "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

    Shared success = False
    Shared barrier = New Barrier(2, Sub(b)
                                        Dim sb = New StringBuilder()
                                        For i As Integer = 0 To words1.Length - 1
                                            sb.Append(words1(i))
                                            sb.Append(" ")
                                        Next
                                        For i As Integer = 0 To words2.Length - 1

                                            sb.Append(words2(i))

                                            If (i < words2.Length - 1) Then
                                                sb.Append(" ")
                                            End If
                                        Next
                                        sb.Append(".")
                                        System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine(sb.ToString())

                                        Console.CursorLeft = 0
                                        Console.Write("Current phase: {0}", barrier.CurrentPhaseNumber)
                                        If (String.CompareOrdinal(solution, sb.ToString()) = 0) Then
                                            success = True
                                            Console.WriteLine()
                                            Console.WriteLine("The solution was found in {0} attempts", barrier.CurrentPhaseNumber)
                                        End If
                                    End Sub)

    Shared Sub Main()
        Dim t1 = New Thread(Sub() Solve(words1))
        Dim t2 = New Thread(Sub() Solve(words2))
        t1.Start()
        t2.Start()

        ' Keep the console window open.
        Console.ReadLine()
    End Sub

    ' Use Knuth-Fisher-Yates shuffle to randomly reorder each array.
    ' For simplicity, we require that both wordArrays be solved in the same phase.
    ' Success of right or left side only is not stored and does not count.       
    Shared Sub Solve(ByVal wordArray As String())
        While success = False
            Dim rand = New Random()
            For i As Integer = 0 To wordArray.Length - 1
                Dim swapIndex As Integer = rand.Next(i + 1)
                Dim temp As String = wordArray(i)
                wordArray(i) = wordArray(swapIndex)
                wordArray(swapIndex) = temp
            Next

            ' We need to stop here to examine results
            ' of all thread activity. This is done in the post-phase
            ' delegate that is defined in the Barrier constructor.
            barrier.SignalAndWait()
        End While
    End Sub
End Class

A Barrier is an object that prevents individual tasks in a parallel operation from continuing until all tasks reach the barrier. It is useful when a parallel operation occurs in phases, and each phase requires synchronization between tasks. In this example, there are two phases to the operation. In the first phase, each task fills its section of the buffer with data. When each task finishes filling its section, the task signals the barrier that it is ready to continue, and then waits. When all tasks have signaled the barrier, they are unblocked and the second phase starts. The barrier is necessary because the second phase requires that each task have access to all the data that has been generated to this point. Without the barrier, the first tasks to complete might try to read from buffers that have not been filled in yet by other tasks. You can synchronize any number of phases in this manner.

See also