bpo-41710: PyThread_acquire_lock_timed() uses sem_clockwait() #28662
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On Unix, if the sem_clockwait() function is available in the C library (glibc 2.30 and newer), the threading.Lock.acquire() method now uses the monotonic clock (time.CLOCK_MONOTONIC) for the timeout, rather than using the system clock (time.CLOCK_REALTIME), to not be affected by system clock changes. configure now checks if the sem_clockwait() function is available.
Python/thread_pthread.h
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| if (timeout > 0) { | ||
| #ifdef HAVE_SEM_CLOCKWAIT | ||
| struct timespec abs_timeout; | ||
| _PyTime_AsTimespec_clamp(deadline, &abs_timeout); |
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I don't know if sem_clockwait() timeout argument can be modified by the function, for example if the wait is interrupted by a signal. In case of doubt, I prefer to compute abs_timeout before each call.
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In the same file, pthread_cond_timedwait() absolute timeout is only computed once outside the loop. I understand that we can also compute abs_timeout once outside the loop.
The new implementation of time.sleep(), pysleep() function, now also uses an absolute timeout (timespec) computed once outside the loop. It uses clock_nanosleep() or nanosleep(). These functions have an argument for the remaining time, it's not used by pysleep().
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sem_clockwait() documentation doesn't say that the absolute timeout is modified, which confirms that it can be only computed once:
https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Waiting-with-Explicit-Clocks.html
Python/thread_pthread.h
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| #ifdef HAVE_SEM_CLOCKWAIT | ||
| struct timespec abs_timeout; | ||
| _PyTime_AsTimespec_clamp(deadline, &abs_timeout); | ||
| status = fix_status(sem_clockwait(thelock, CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &abs_timeout)); |
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I don't know if sem_clockwait() can fail with ENOSYS if Python is built with a recent glibc and then run with an older glibc or a different kernel version.
Should we attempt to fallback to sem_timedwait() if sem_clockwait() "doesn't work"? How can we determine if sem_clockwait() "doesn't work"? So far, I failed to find a sem_clockwait() documentation or manual page.
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In case of doubt, I prefer to leave the code as it is, and only implement a fallback once we can test it on a real system.
Python/thread_pthread.h
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| break; | ||
| } | ||
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| // sem_clockwait() uses an absolution timeout, there is no need |
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Nobody expects the Spanish Absolution!
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On Unix, if the sem_clockwait() function is available in the C
library (glibc 2.30 and newer), the threading.Lock.acquire() method
now uses the monotonic clock (time.CLOCK_MONOTONIC) for the timeout,
rather than using the system clock (time.CLOCK_REALTIME), to not be
affected by system clock changes.
configure now checks if the sem_clockwait() function is available.
https://bugs.python.org/issue41710