背景

在同一时间内只能有一个协程获取互斥锁并执行操作，在多读少写的情况下，如果长时间没有写操作，那么读取到的会是完全相同的值，完全不需要通过互斥的方式获取，这是读写锁产生的背景。

读写锁通过两种锁来实现，一种为读锁，另一种为写锁。当进行读取操作时，需要加读锁，而进行写入操作时需要加写锁。多个协程可以同时获得读锁并执行。如果此时有协程申请了写锁，那么该写锁会等待所有的读锁都释放后才能获取写锁继续执行。如果当前的协程申请读锁时已经存在写锁，那么读锁会等待写锁释放后再获取锁继续执行。

总之，读锁必须能观察到上一次写锁写入的值，写锁要等待之前的读锁释放才能写入。可能有多个协程获得读锁，但只有一个协程获得写锁。举一个简单的例子，哈希表并不是并发安全的，它只能够并发读取，并发写入时会出现冲突。一种简单的规避方式如下所示，可以在获取map中的数据时加入RLock读锁，在写入数据时使用Lock写锁。

type Stat struct {
	counters map[string]int
	mutex sync.RWMutex
}

func (s *Stat) getCounter(name string) int {
	s.mutex.RLock()
	defer s.mutex.RUnlock()
	return s.counters[name]
}

func (s *Stat) setCounter(name string) {
	s.mutex.Lock()
	defer s.mutex.Unlock()
	s.counters[name]++
}

读写锁原理

读写锁位于sync标准库中，其结构如下。读写锁复用了互斥锁及信号量这两种机制。

// There is a modified copy of this file in runtime/rwmutex.go.
// If you make any changes here, see if you should make them there.

// A RWMutex is a reader/writer mutual exclusion lock.
// The lock can be held by an arbitrary number of readers or a single writer.
// The zero value for a RWMutex is an unlocked mutex.
//
// A RWMutex must not be copied after first use.
//
// If a goroutine holds a RWMutex for reading and another goroutine might
// call Lock, no goroutine should expect to be able to acquire a read lock
// until the initial read lock is released. In particular, this prohibits
// recursive read locking. This is to ensure that the lock eventually becomes
// available; a blocked Lock call excludes new readers from acquiring the
// lock.
type RWMutex struct {
	w           Mutex  // held if there are pending writers
	writerSem   uint32 // semaphore for writers to wait for completing readers
	readerSem   uint32 // semaphore for readers to wait for completing writers
	readerCount int32  // number of pending readers
	readerWait  int32  // number of departing readers
}

读取操作先通过原子操作将readerCount + 1，如果readerCount ≥ 0就直接返回，所以如果只有获取读取锁的操作，那么其成本只有一个原子操作。当readerCount < 0时，说明当前有写锁，当前协程将借助信号量陷入等待状态，如果获取到信号量则立即退出，没有获取到信号量时的逻辑与互斥锁的逻辑相似。

func (rw *RWMutex) RLock() {
	if race.Enabled {
		_ = rw.w.state
		race.Disable()
	}
	if atomic.AddInt32(&rw.readerCount, 1) < 0 {
		// A writer is pending, wait for it.
		runtime_SemacquireMutex(&rw.readerSem, false, 0)
	}
	if race.Enabled {
		race.Enable()
		race.Acquire(unsafe.Pointer(&rw.readerSem))
	}
}

读锁解锁时，如果当前没有写锁，则其成本只有一个原子操作并直接退出。

func (rw *RWMutex) RUnlock() {
	if race.Enabled {
		_ = rw.w.state
		race.ReleaseMerge(unsafe.Pointer(&rw.writerSem))
		race.Disable()
	}
	if r := atomic.AddInt32(&rw.readerCount, -1); r < 0 {
		// Outlined slow-path to allow the fast-path to be inlined
		rw.rUnlockSlow(r)
	}
	if race.Enabled {
		race.Enable()
	}
}

如果当前有写锁正在等待，则调用rUnlockSlow判断当前是否为最后一个被释放的读锁，如果是则需要增加信号量并唤醒写锁。

func (rw *RWMutex) rUnlockSlow(r int32) {
	if r+1 == 0 || r+1 == -rwmutexMaxReaders {
		race.Enable()
		throw("sync: RUnlock of unlocked RWMutex")
	}
	// A writer is pending.
	if atomic.AddInt32(&rw.readerWait, -1) == 0 {
		// The last reader unblocks the writer.
		runtime_Semrelease(&rw.writerSem, false, 1)
	}
}

读写锁申请写锁时要调用Lock方法，必须先获取互斥锁，因为它复用了互斥锁的功能。接着readerCount减去rwmutexMaxReaders阻止后续的读操作。

但获取互斥锁并不一定能直接获取写锁，如果当前已经有其他Goroutine持有互斥锁的读锁，那么当前协程会加入全局等待队列并进入休眠状态，当最后一个读锁被释放时，会唤醒该协程。

func (rw *RWMutex) Lock() {
	if race.Enabled {
		_ = rw.w.state
		race.Disable()
	}
	// First, resolve competition with other writers.
	rw.w.Lock()
	// Announce to readers there is a pending writer.
	r := atomic.AddInt32(&rw.readerCount, -rwmutexMaxReaders) + rwmutexMaxReaders
	// Wait for active readers.
	if r != 0 && atomic.AddInt32(&rw.readerWait, r) != 0 {
		runtime_SemacquireMutex(&rw.writerSem, false, 0)
	}
	if race.Enabled {
		race.Enable()
		race.Acquire(unsafe.Pointer(&rw.readerSem))
		race.Acquire(unsafe.Pointer(&rw.writerSem))
	}
}

解锁时，调用Unlock方法。将readerCount加上rwmutexMaxReaders，表示不会堵塞后续的读锁，依次唤醒所有等待中的读锁。当所有的读锁唤醒完毕后会释放互斥锁。

func (rw *RWMutex) Unlock() {
	if race.Enabled {
		_ = rw.w.state
		race.Release(unsafe.Pointer(&rw.readerSem))
		race.Disable()
	}

	// Announce to readers there is no active writer.
	r := atomic.AddInt32(&rw.readerCount, rwmutexMaxReaders)
	if r >= rwmutexMaxReaders {
		race.Enable()
		throw("sync: Unlock of unlocked RWMutex")
	}
	// Unblock blocked readers, if any.
	for i := 0; i < int(r); i++ {
		runtime_Semrelease(&rw.readerSem, false, 0)
	}
	// Allow other writers to proceed.
	rw.w.Unlock()
	if race.Enabled {
		race.Enable()
	}
}

可以看出，读写锁在写操作时的性能与互斥锁类似，但是在只有读操作时效率要高很多，因为读锁可以被多个协程获取。