How to use/create unique_lock in c++?

by

std::unique_lock use the RAII pattern.

When you want to lock a mutex, you create a local variable of type std::unique_lock passing the mutex as parameter. When the unique_lock is constructed it will lock the mutex, and it gets destructed it will unlock the mutex. More importantly: If a exceptions is thrown, the std::unique_lock destructer will be called and so the mutex will be unlocked.

Example:

#include<mutex>
int some_shared_var=0;

int func() {
    int a = 3;
    { //Critical section
        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(my_mutex);
        some_shared_var += a;
    } //End of critical section
}

Leave a Comment