Is it safe to get values from a java.util.HashMap from multiple threads (no modification)?

Question

There is a case where a map will be constructed, and once it is initialized, it will never be modified again. It will however, be accessed (via get(key) only) from multiple threads. Is it safe to use a java.util.HashMap in this way?

(Currently, I'm happily using a java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap, and have no measured need to improve performance, but am simply curious if a simple HashMap would suffice. Hence, this question is not "Which one should I use?" nor is it a performance question. Rather, the question is "Would it be safe?")

Answer 1

http://www.docjar.com/html/api/java/util/HashMap.java.html

here is the source for HashMap. As you can tell, there is absolutely no locking / mutex code there.

This means that while its okay to read from a HashMap in a multithreaded situation, I'd definitely use a ConcurrentHashMap if there were multiple writes.

Whats interesting is that both the .NET HashTable and Dictionary<K,V> have built in synchronization code.

Answer 2

After a bit more looking, I found this in the java doc (emphasis mine):

Note that this implementation is not synchronized. If multiple threads access a hash map concurrently, and at least one of the threads modifies the map structurally, it must be synchronized externally. (A structural modification is any operation that adds or deletes one or more mappings; merely changing the value associated with a key that an instance already contains is not a structural modification.)

This seems to imply that it will be safe, assuming the converse of the statement there is true.

Answer 3

Be warned that even in single-threaded code, replacing a ConcurrentHashMap with a HashMap may not be safe. ConcurrentHashMap forbids null as a key or value. HashMap does not forbid them (don't ask).

So in the unlikely situation that your existing code might add a null to the collection during setup (presumably in a failure case of some kind), replacing the collection as described will change the functional behaviour.

That said, provided you do nothing else concurrent reads from a HashMap are safe.

[Edit: by "concurrent reads", I mean that there are not also concurrent modifications.

Other answers explain how to ensure this. One way is to make the map immutable, but it's not necessary. For example, the JSR133 memory model explicitly defines starting a thread to be a synchronised action, meaning that changes made in thread A before it starts thread B are visible in thread B.

My intent is not to contradict those more detailed answers about the Java Memory Model. This answer is intended to point out that even aside from concurrency issues, there is at least one API difference between ConcurrentHashMap and HashMap, which could scupper even a single-threaded program which replaced one with the other.]

Answer 4

Jeremy Manson, the god when it comes to the Java Memory Model, has a three part blog on this topic - because in essence you are asking the question "Is it safe to access an immutable HashMap" - the answer to that is yes. But you must answer the predicate to that question which is - "Is my HashMap immutable". The answer might surprise you - Java has a relatively complicated set of rules to determine immutability.

For more info on the topic, read Jeremy's blog posts:

Part 1 on Immutability in Java: http://jeremymanson.blogspot.com/2008/04/immutability-in-java.html

Part 2 on Immutability in Java: http://jeremymanson.blogspot.com/2008/07/immutability-in-java-part-2.html

Part 3 on Immutability in Java: http://jeremymanson.blogspot.com/2008/07/immutability-in-java-part-3.html

Answer 5

The reads are safe from a synchronization standpoint but not a memory standpoint. This is something that is widely misunderstood among Java developers including here on Stackoverflow. (Observe the rating of this answer for proof.)

If you have other threads running, they may not see an updated copy of the HashMap if there is no memory write out of the current thread. Memory writes occur through the use of the synchronized or volatile keywords, or through uses of some java concurrency constructs.

See Brian Goetz's article on the new Java Memory Model for details.

Answer 6

There is an important twist though. It's safe to access the map, but in general it's not guaranteed that all threads will see exactly the same state (and thus values) of the HashMap. This might happen on multiprocessor systems where the modifications to the HashMap done by one thread (e.g., the one that populated it) can sit in that CPU's cache and won't be seen by threads running on other CPUs, until a memory fence operation is performed ensuring cache coherence. The Java Language Specification is explicit on this one: the solution is to acquire a lock (synchronized (...)) which emits a memory fence operation. So, if you are sure that after populating the HashMap each of the threads acquires ANY lock, then it's OK from that point on to access the HashMap from any thread until the HashMap is modified again.

Answer 7

One note is that under some circumstances, a get() from an unsynchronized HashMap can cause an infinite loop. This can occur if a concurrent put() causes a rehash of the Map.

http://lightbody.net/blog/2005/07/hashmapget_can_cause_an_infini.html

Answer 8

So the scenario you're describing is that you need to put a bunch of data into a Map, then when you're done populating it you treat it as immutable. One approach that is "safe" (meaning you're enforcing that it really is treated as immutable) is to replace the reference with Collections.unmodifiableMap(originalMap) when you're ready to make it immutable.

For an example of how badly maps can fail if used concurrently, and the suggested workaround I mentioned, check out this bug parade entry: bug_id=6423457