Getting different output of the same program when written in C# and Java in multithreaded environment

Question

I have a shared boolean static variable uninitialized and created two threads, started one thread, then sleep of two seconds and then started second thread.

I have print statements basically in both the threads based on the shared variable condition but I am getting different output when ran in c# and java

C# code:

class ThreadCache
    {
        public static bool shared;
        public static void Main()
        {
            new Thread(Meth1).Start();
            Thread.Sleep(2000);
            new Thread(Meth2).Start();
        }
        public static void Meth1()
        {
            while (!shared) { }
            Console.WriteLine("Hello");
        }
        public static void Meth2()
        {
            shared = true;
            Console.WriteLine("Hi");
        }
    }

Java Code:

public class HiHello
{
    static boolean S1 = false;

    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
        new Thread(new Thread1(), "Thread 1").start();
        Thread.sleep(2000);
        new Thread(new Thread2(), "Thread 2").start();
    }

    private static class Thread1 implements Runnable
    {
        public void run()
        {
            while (!HiHello.S1) {}
            System.out.println("HELLO!");
        }
    }

    private static class Thread2 implements Runnable
    {
        public void run()
        {
            HiHello.S1 = true;
            System.out.println("HI!");
        }
    }
}

In C# whatever number of times I run the code I get both outputs "Hi" and "Hello" but when I run in java only "Hi" gets printed and the programs never terminates(exits). Please explain me the reason of getting different outputs

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 15 '19 at 13:52

Both programs have multi-threading / concurrency bugs. The difference in behavior has to do with details of the underlying implementation of how C# and Java deal with threads, their memory models, how they interact with your hardware, and luck.

Specifically, in both Java and C# - to my knowledge - on a multicore processor, there is no guarantee that one thread sees what the other does unless you have a read memory barrier which you can accomplish either through a synchronized read (which also includes mutual exclusivity and is more expensive, which you do not need here) or a volatile write/read (cheaper and only gives other thread visibility and happens-before guarantees without mutual exclusivity. It's great if you have writers who only write, readers who only read, and if the field you are modifying/reading is an atomic value which is the case in your example).

Volatile vs. Interlocked vs. lock

Happens-before rules in Java Memory Model

guarantee that up-to-date value of variable is always visible to several threads on multi-processor system

Getting different output of the same program when written in C# and Java in multithreaded environment

1 Answers1