What's the difference between PESSIMISTIC_READ and PESSIMISTIC_WRITE in JPA?

java jpa locking pessimistic
paka picture paka · Nov 1, 2009 · Viewed 40k times · Source

I have read the article Locking and Concurrency in Java Persistence 2.0, and run the sample application. But i still cant realize the difference between PESSIMISTIC_READ and PESSIMISTIC_WRITE. I tried to modify the code, and where the code using PESSIMISTIC_READ and PESSIMISTIC_WRITE will have the same result that the sql will invoked with "for update".

Answer

Sergii Shevchyk picture Sergii Shevchyk · Dec 12, 2013

The difference lies in locking mechanism.

PESSIMISTIC_READ lock means that dirty reads and non-repeatable reads are impossible when you have such a lock. If data should be changed it's required to obtain PESSIMISTIC_WRITE lock

PESSIMISTIC_WRITE lock guarantees that besides dirty and non-repeatable reads are impossible you can update data without obtaining additional locks(and possible deadlocks while waiting for exclusive lock). 

╔══════════════════════╦══════════════════════════╦══════════════════════════╗
║     LockModeType     ║     PESSIMISTIC_READ     ║    PESSIMISTIC_WRITE     ║
╠══════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣ 
║         type         ║       SHARED LOCK        ║      EXCLUSIVE LOCK      ║
╠══════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣   
║  isReadOnly without  ║                          ║                          ║
║   additional locks   ║            YES           ║            NO            ║
╠══════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║      dirty reads     ║            NO            ║            NO            ║
╠══════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║ non-repeatable reads ║            NO            ║            NO            ║
╠══════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║ how to update data   ║ obtain PESSIMISTIC_WRITE ║         ALLOWED          ║
╠══════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║                      ║       no one holds       ║      no one holds        ║
║ how to obtain lock   ║     PESSIMISTIC_WRITE    ║   PESSIMISTIC_READ   or  ║
║                      ║                          ║   PESSIMISTIC_WRITE      ║
╠══════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║                      ║                          ║   when there is a high   ║
║                      ║  you want to ensure no   ║ likelihood of deadlock or║
║      when to use     ║ dirty or non-repeatable  ║   update failure among   ║ 
║                      ║   reads are possible     ║    concurrent updating   ║
║                      ║                          ║       transactions       ║
╚══════════════════════╩══════════════════════════╩══════════════════════════╝

Resources:

JPA 2.1

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