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Diffstat (limited to 'ext/Thread/Thread/Semaphore.pm')
-rw-r--r-- | ext/Thread/Thread/Semaphore.pm | 43 |
1 files changed, 43 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/ext/Thread/Thread/Semaphore.pm b/ext/Thread/Thread/Semaphore.pm index 4e1bb7ddbc..915808cbed 100644 --- a/ext/Thread/Thread/Semaphore.pm +++ b/ext/Thread/Thread/Semaphore.pm @@ -18,6 +18,49 @@ Thread::Semaphore - thread-safe semaphores $s->up($up_value); $s->down($up_value); +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +Semaphores provide a mechanism to regulate access to resources. Semaphores, +unlike locks, aren't tied to particular scalars, and so may be used to +control access to anything you care to use them for. + +Semaphores don't limit their values to zero or one, so they can be used to +control access to some resource that may have more than one of. (For +example, filehandles) Increment and decrement amounts aren't fixed at one +either, so threads can reserve or return multiple resources at once. + +=head1 FUNCTIONS AND METHODS + +=over 8 + +=item new + +=item new NUMBER + +C<new> creates a new semaphore, and initializes its count to the passed +number. If no number is passed, the semaphore's count is set to one. + +=item down + +=item down NUMBER + +The C<down> method decreases the semaphore's count by the specified number, +or one if no number has been specified. If the semaphore's count would drop +below zero, this method will block until such time that the semaphore's +count is equal to or larger than the amount you're C<down>ing the +semaphore's count by. + +=item up + +=item up NUMBER + +The C<up> method increases the semaphore's count by the number specified, +or one if no number's been specified. This will unblock any thread blocked +trying to C<down> the semaphore if the C<up> raises the semaphore count +above what the C<down>s are trying to decrement it by. + +=back + =cut sub new { |