Testing Postgres race conditions with synchronization barriers
2 hours ago
- #Testing
- #Postgres
- #Concurrency
- Race conditions in Postgres can lead to incorrect data states, such as lost updates in concurrent operations.
- Testing for race conditions is challenging because standard tests run sequentially, missing concurrent execution issues.
- Synchronization barriers can deterministically reproduce race conditions in tests by forcing concurrent operations to specific execution points.
- Using `SELECT ... FOR UPDATE` locks rows to prevent race conditions, ensuring serialized access to critical sections.
- Barrier tests must pass with locks and fail without them to be effective; otherwise, they may not catch regressions.
- Injecting barriers via hooks in test environments allows for race condition testing without affecting production code.
- Real database instances are necessary for testing Postgres race conditions, as mocks cannot simulate locks and contention.