std::mutex::lock

 

C++

Language

Standard library headers

Concepts

Utilities library

Strings library

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Algorithms library

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Numerics library

Input/output library

Localizations library

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Atomic operations library (C++11)

Thread support library (C++11)

Technical Specifications

 

Thread support library

Threads
thread (C++11)
this_thread namespace
get_id (C++11) yield (C++11)	sleep_for (C++11) sleep_until (C++11)
Mutual exclusion
mutex (C++11) recursive_mutex (C++11) shared_mutex (C++17)	timed_mutex (C++11) recursive_timed_mutex (C++11) shared_timed_mutex (C++14)
Generic lock management
lock_guard (C++11) unique_lock (C++11) shared_lock (C++14) defer_lock_ttry_to_lock_tadopt_lock_t (C++11)(C++11)(C++11)	lock (C++11) try_lock (C++11) defer_locktry_to_lockadopt_lock (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) once_flag (C++11) call_once (C++11)
Condition variables
condition_variable (C++11)
condition_variable_any (C++11)
notify_all_at_thread_exit (C++11)
cv_status (C++11)
Futures
promise (C++11) future (C++11) shared_future (C++11) packaged_task (C++11) async (C++11)	launch (C++11) future_status (C++11) future_error (C++11) future_category (C++11) future_errc (C++11)

 

std::mutex

Member functions

mutex::mutex

mutex::~mutex

Locking

mutex::lock

mutex::try_lock

mutex::unlock

Native handle

mutex::native_handle

 

void lock();		(since C++11)

Locks the mutex. If another thread has already locked the mutex, a call to lock will block execution until the lock is acquired.

If lock is called by a thread that already owns the mutex, the behavior is undefined: the program may deadlock, or, if the implementation can detect the deadlock, a resource_deadlock_would_occur error condition may be thrown.

Prior unlock() operation on the same mutex synchronizes-with (as defined in std::memory_order) this operation.

Parameters

(none)

Return value

(none)

Exceptions

Throws std::system_error when errors occur, including errors from the underlying operating system that would prevent lock from meeting its specifications. The mutex is not locked in the case of any exception being thrown.

Notes

lock() is usually not called directly: std::unique_lock and std::lock_guard are used to manage exclusive locking.

Example

This example shows how lock and unlock can be used to protect shared data.

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <chrono>
#include <thread>
#include <mutex>
 
int g_num = 0;  // protected by g_num_mutex
std::mutex g_num_mutex;
 
void slow_increment(int id) 
{
    for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
        g_num_mutex.lock();
        ++g_num;
        std::cout << id << " => " << g_num << '\n';
        g_num_mutex.unlock();
 
        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
    }
}
 
int main()
{
    std::thread t1(slow_increment, 0);
    std::thread t2(slow_increment, 1);
    t1.join();
    t2.join();
}

Possible output:

0 => 1
1 => 2
0 => 3
1 => 4
0 => 5
1 => 6

See also

try_lock	tries to lock the mutex, returns if the mutex is not available (public member function)
unlock	unlocks the mutex (public member function)