When Should You Use Golang's `runtime.LockOSThread()`?

Benefits of Runtime.LockOSThread in Golang

Introduction

Golang's goroutine-based concurrency model manages thread scheduling for executing Go code efficiently. However, there are scenarios where it becomes beneficial to tie a goroutine exclusively to an OS thread using the runtime.LockOSThread() function.

Use Cases for Exclusive Thread Lock

The primary benefit of using runtime.LockOSThread() stems from the potential interactions between Go code and external libraries. When Go code calls external C code, assembler code, or blocking system calls, they are executed in the same thread as the calling Go code.

However, certain external libraries require all calls to occur on the same thread, particularly in the case of graphical libraries or libraries that rely on thread-local storage (TLS) facilities, such as storing context or results attached to a thread's memory lifecycle.

Examples of Library Requirements

Examples of external libraries that benefit from exclusive thread locking include:

• Graphical libraries such as OS X Cocoa, OpenGL, and SDL, which often require calls to be made from a specific thread (or the main thread).
• Libraries with TLS features, which use thread-local data structures to store context or function results with a thread-bound memory lifecycle. The errno global variable in C libraries is a common example of this.
• Libraries that manage resources based on a thread identifier for indexing or management purposes.

By ensuring that these calls are performed in the same OS thread using runtime.LockOSThread(), it guarantees the correct behavior of the external libraries and eliminates potential errors or data corruption that could result from thread concurrency issues.

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