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Is it possible to use RWMutex to make writing non-synchronized?

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Answer from AI

RWMutex in Go is designed for synchronizing access to data, allowing multiple readers to read simultaneously, but blocking writes while reading, and vice versa.

Using RWMutex to make a write "asynchronous" (i.e., non-blocking or asynchronous) is not possible. RWMutex provides strictly synchronous access control:

  • When calling Lock() for writing, the goroutine is blocked if there are active readers or writers.
  • When calling RLock() for reading, the goroutine is blocked if there is an active writer.

If asynchronous writing is needed, other mechanisms should be used, such as:

  • Channels for passing data to a separate goroutine that performs the write.
  • Specialized data structures or libraries with non-blocking algorithms.

Example of using RWMutex:

var mu sync.RWMutex
var data int

func readData() int {
    mu.RLock()
    defer mu.RUnlock()
    return data
}

func writeData(val int) {
    mu.Lock()
    defer mu.Unlock()
    data = val
}

Here, reading and writing are synchronized, but the write is not "asynchronous".