Question

I have a class in C# like this:

public MyClass
{
   public void Start() { ... }

   public void Method_01() { ... }
   public void Method_02() { ... }
   public void Method_03() { ... }
}

When I call the “Start()” method, an external class start to work and will create many parallel threads that those parallel threads call the “Method_01()” and “Method_02()” form above class. after end of working of the external class, the “Method_03()” will be run in another parallel thread.

Threads of “Method_01()” or “Method_02()” are created before creation of thread of Method_03(), but there is no guaranty to end before start of thread of “Method_03()”. I mean the “Method_01()” or the “Method_02()” will lost their CPU turn and the “Method_03” will get the CPU turn and will end completely.

In the “Start()” method I know the total number of threads that are supposed to create and run “Method_01” and “Method_02()”. The question is that I’m searching for a way using semaphore or mutex to ensure that the first statement of “Method_03()” will be run exactly after end of all threads which are running “Method_01()” or “Method_02()”.

Answer 1

Three options that come to mind are:

• Keep an array of Thread instances and call Join on all of them from Method_03.
• Use a single CountdownEvent instance and call Wait from Method_03.
• Allocate one ManualResetEvent for each Method_01 or Method_02 call and call WaitHandle.WaitAll on all of them from Method_03 (this is not very scalable).

I prefer to use a CountdownEvent because it is a lot more versatile and is still super scalable.

public class MyClass
{
  private CountdownEvent m_Finished = new CountdownEvent(0);

  public void Start()
  {
    m_Finished.AddCount(); // Increment to indicate that this thread is active.

    for (int i = 0; i < NUMBER_OF_THREADS; i++)
    {
      m_Finished.AddCount(); // Increment to indicate another active thread.
      new Thread(Method_01).Start();
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < NUMBER_OF_THREADS; i++)
    {
      m_Finished.AddCount(); // Increment to indicate another active thread.
      new Thread(Method_02).Start();
    }

    new Thread(Method_03).Start();

    m_Finished.Signal(); // Signal to indicate that this thread is done.
  }

  private void Method_01()
  {
    try
    {
      // Add your logic here.
    }
    finally
    {
      m_Finished.Signal(); // Signal to indicate that this thread is done.
    }
  }

  private void Method_02()
  {
    try
    {
      // Add your logic here.
    }
    finally
    {
      m_Finished.Signal(); // Signal to indicate that this thread is done.
    }
  }

  private void Method_03()
  {
    m_Finished.Wait(); // Wait for all signals.
    // Add your logic here.
  }
}