ISemaphore Interface

ISemaphore is a cluster-wide counting semaphore. Conceptually, it maintains a set of permits. Each Acquire() blocks if necessary until a permit is available, and then takes it. Each Release() adds a permit, potentially releasing a blocking acquirer. However, no actual permit objects are used; the semaphore just keeps a count of the number available and acts accordingly.

The Hazelcast distributed semaphore implementation guarantees that threads invoking any of the acquire methods are selected to obtain permits in the order in which their invocation of those methods was processed(first-in-first-out; FIFO). Note that FIFO ordering necessarily applies to specific internal points of execution within the cluster. So, it is possible for one member to invoke acquire before another, but reach the ordering point after the other, and similarly upon return from the method.

This class also provides convenience methods to acquire and release multiple permits at a time. Beware of the increased risk of indefinite postponement when using the multiple acquire. If a single permit is released to a semaphore that is currently blocking, a thread waiting for one permit will acquire it before a thread waiting for multiple permits regardless of the call order.

• Correct usage of a semaphore is established by programming convention in the application.

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