JavaScript Atomics isLockFree() Method

Atomics.isLockFree() operation returns true if the given size is one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT properties of integer TypedArray types else Atomics.isLockFree() operation returns false. A lock-free element can be manipulated without needing a lock and the user does not require to provide its own locking mechanism.

What is BYTES_PER_ELEMENT property of integer TypedArray ?

• The TypedArray.BYTES_PER_ELEMENT property represents the size in bytes of each element in a typed array.
• Since TypedArray objects differ from each other in the number of bytes per element and in the way the bytes are interpreted.
• The BYTES_PER_ELEMENT constant contains the number of bytes each element in the given TypedArray has.

Applications:

• Atomics.isLockFree() are used to check whether an operation is lock free or not.
• Can be used for the validation of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT property of integer TypedArray

Syntax:

Atomics.isLockFree(size) 

Parameters Used:

• size : It is the size in bytes to check

Return Value: Atomics.isLockFree() returns either Boolean true indicating the operation is lock free or it returns false. 

Examples of the above function are provided below.

Input : Atomics.isLockFree(5)
Output : false

Explanation: In this example, “5” is sent as a parameter to the Atomics.isLockFree() method and it returns false because “5” is not one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values.  

Input : Atomics.isLockFree(6)
Output : false

Explanation: In this example, “6” is sent as a parameter to the Atomics.isLockFree() method and it returns false because “6” is not one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values.  

Input : Atomics.isLockFree(2)
Output : true

Explanation: In this example, “2” is sent as a parameter to the Atomics.isLockFree() method and it returns true because “2” is one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values.  

Input : Atomics.isLockFree(4)
Output : true

Explanation: In this example, “4” is sent as a parameter to the Atomics.isLockFree() method and it returns true because “4” is one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values. 

Examples of the above function are provided below.

Example 1:

javascript

// Displaying the return value of the
// Atomics.isLockFree() method
console.log(Atomics.isLockFree(5));

// Atomics.isLockFree() will return false since
// 5 is not one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values

Output :

false

Example 2:

javascript

// Displaying the return value of
// the Atomics.isLockFree() method
console.log(Atomics.isLockFree(6));

// Atomics.isLockFree() will return false since 6
// is not one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values

Output :

false

Example 3:

javascript

// Displaying the return value
// of the Atomics.isLockFree() method
console.log(Atomics.isLockFree(2));

// Atomics.isLockFree() will return true since
// 2 is one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values

Output :

true

Example 4:

javascript

// Displaying the return value of the
// Atomics.isLockFree() method
console.log(Atomics.isLockFree(4));

// Atomics.isLockFree() will return true since
//  4 is one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT values

OUTPUT :

true

Application: Whenever we want to check whether an operation is lock-free or not or we want to validate the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT property of integer TypedArray, we use the Atomics.isLockFree() operation in JavaScript.

Example:

javascript

// Displaying the return value of
// the Atomics.isLockFree() method
console.log(Atomics.isLockFree(8));

// Atomics.isLockFree() will return true since 8
// is one of the BYTES_PER_ELEMENT(Float64Array) values

Output :

true

Exceptions :

• If the typedArray is not one of the allowed integer types then the Atomics.isLockFree( ) operation throws a TypeError.
• If the typedArray is not a shared typed array then the Atomics.isLockFree( ) operation throws a TypeError.

Supported Browser:

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Firefox
• Opera
• Safari

We have a complete list of Javascript Atomic methods, to check those please go through this JavaScript Atomics Complete Reference article.

We have a Cheat Sheet on Javascript where we covered all the important topics of Javascript to check those please go through Javascript Cheat Sheet-A Basic guide to JavaScript.