Implementing Synchronous Channels in Rust

Last update on December 21 2024 10:19:01 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Write a Rust program to implement the use of synchronous channels. Create a channel with synchronous communication and send messages between threads, ensuring that messages are received before continuing.

Sample Solution:

Rust Code:

use std::sync::mpsc;
use std::thread;

const NUM_MESSAGES: usize = 5;

fn main() {
    // Create a synchronous channel for communication
    let (sender, receiver) = mpsc::sync_channel(NUM_MESSAGES);

    // Spawn a thread to send messages
    let sender_thread = thread::spawn(move || {
        for i in 0..NUM_MESSAGES {
            sender.send(i).unwrap(); // Send a message
            println!("Sent: {}", i);
        }
    });

    // Spawn a thread to receive messages
    let receiver_thread = thread::spawn(move || {
        for _ in 0..NUM_MESSAGES {
            let message = receiver.recv().unwrap(); // Receive a message
            println!("Received: {}", message);
        }
    });

    // Wait for sender and receiver threads to finish
    sender_thread.join().unwrap();
    receiver_thread.join().unwrap();
}

Output:

Sent: 0
Sent: 1
Sent: 2
Sent: 3
Sent: 4
Received: 0
Received: 1
Received: 2
Received: 3
Received: 4

Explanation:

In the exercise above,

• We create a synchronous channel using 'mpsc::sync_channel', specifying the buffer size as 'NUM_MESSAGES'.
• Two threads are spawned: one for sending messages and one for receiving messages.
• The sender thread iterates over a range and sends messages through the channel using 'sender.send(i)'.
• The receiver thread iterates over the same range and receives messages using 'receiver.recv()'.
• As the channel is synchronous, the sender blocks until the receiver is ready to receive the message, ensuring synchronization.
• Both the sender and receiver threads are joined to the main thread to ensure they complete their tasks before the program exits.

Rust Code Editor:

Previous: Simulating a Message Passing Network in Rust.
Next: Implementing a Message Broadcast System in Rust.