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Subject: [Pljava-dev] Is it safe to use multi-threaded PL/Java in single-threaded postgres process?
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:56:13 +0900
Message-ID: <A832684586A84610AD7173AB42138F38@maumau> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <30A6B4B499494CED93770BBC4835840C@maumau>
References: <30A6B4B499494CED93770BBC4835840C@maumau>

I got the reply in pgsql-hackers about this.  According to Tom's comment, 
I'm worried about PL/Java's design.

http://www.postgresql.org/message-id/11347.1394545919 at sss.pgh.pa.us

Is there any rationale that it's safe for PL/Java to:

* load multi-threaded Java VM in single-threaded postgres process (which is 
what Tom is concerned about)

* make multi-threaded Java VM load single-threaded pljava.so (which is what 
JNI specification says should not be done).


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "MauMau" <maumau307 at gmail.com>
To: <pljava-dev at lists.pgfoundry.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2014 7:21 PM
Subject: Is it safe to use multi-threaded PL/Java in single-threaded 
postgres process?


> Hello,
>
> Is PL/Java safe to use in terms of its threading design?  I've just asked 
> pgsql-hackers about this and am waiting for response, adding the sentence:
>
> "To put the question in other words, is it safe to load a multi-threaded 
> PL library in the single-threaded backend process, if the PL only calls 
> SPI in the main thread?"
>
> My understanding is:
>
> * PL/Java (pljava.so) is linked with the JNI (Java Native Interface) 
> library, libjvm.so, in JRE.  libjvm.so is linked with libpthread.so, 
> because Java VM is multi-threaded.  SO, "ldd pljava.so" shows libjvm.so 
> and libpthread.so. pljava.so doesn't seem to be built for 
> multh-threading ---  none of -mt, -D_REENTRANT or -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE is 
> specified when building it.
>
> * When the application calls Java stored function, pljava.so calls a 
> function in libjvm.so to create a JVM in the backend process, then invokes 
> the user-defined Java method in the main thread.  The user-defined Java 
> method calls JDBC methods to access database.  The JDBC method calls are 
> translated to backend SPI function calls through JNI.
>
> * The main thread can create Java threads using Java Thread API, and those 
> threads can call JDBC methods.  However, PL/Java intercepts JDBC method 
> calls and serializes SPI calls.  So, only one thread calls SPI functions 
> at a time.  I'm wondering if this is the reason why PL/Java is safe for 
> use.
>
>
> What I'm concerned about is whether multi-threaded code (Java VM) can run 
> safely in a single-threaded code (postgres).  I cannot point out what can 
> be a particular problem with PL/Java, but in general, the mixture of 
> single-threaded code and multi-threaded one seems to cause trouble around 
> handling errno, memory and file handles/pointers.
>
> FYI, JNI specification says that the code called from Java VM should be 
> built for multi-threading as follows.  But postgres is not.
>
> http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/technotes/guides/jni/spec/design.html#wp9502
>
> [Excerpt]
> Compiling, Loading and Linking Native Methods
> Since the Java VM is multithreaded, native libraries should also be 
> compiled and linked with multithread aware native compilers. For example, 
> the -mt flag should be used for C++ code compiled with the Sun Studio 
> compiler. For code complied with the GNU gcc compiler, the 
> flags -D_REENTRANT or -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE should be used. For more 
> information please refer to the native compiler documentation.




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