Editing Double-checked locking (section)

== Usage in C++11 ==
For the singleton pattern, double-checked locking is not needed:

{{quote|If control enters the declaration concurrently while the variable is being initialized, the concurrent execution shall wait for completion of the initialization.|§&nbsp;6.7 [stmt.dcl] p4}}

<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
Singleton& GetInstance() {
  static Singleton s;
  return s;
}
</syntaxhighlight>

C++11 and beyond also provide a built-in double-checked locking pattern in the form of <code>std::once_flag</code> and <code>std::call_once</code>:
<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
#include <mutex>
#include <optional> // Since C++17

// Singleton.h
class Singleton {
 public:
  static Singleton* GetInstance();
 private:
  Singleton() = default;

  static std::optional<Singleton> s_instance;
  static std::once_flag s_flag;
};

// Singleton.cpp
std::optional<Singleton> Singleton::s_instance;
std::once_flag Singleton::s_flag{};

Singleton* Singleton::GetInstance() {
  std::call_once(Singleton::s_flag,
                 []() { s_instance.emplace(Singleton{}); });
  return &*s_instance;
}
</syntaxhighlight>

If one truly wishes to use the double-checked idiom instead of the trivially working example above (for instance because Visual Studio before the 2015 release did not implement the C++11 standard's language about concurrent initialization quoted above <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/library/hh567368.aspx#concurrencytable | title=Support for C++11-14-17 Features (Modern C++)}}</ref> ), one needs to use acquire and release fences:<ref>[http://preshing.com/20130930/double-checked-locking-is-fixed-in-cpp11/ Double-Checked Locking is Fixed In C++11]</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
#include <atomic>
#include <mutex>

class Singleton {
 public:
  static Singleton* GetInstance();

 private:
  Singleton() = default;

  static std::atomic<Singleton*> s_instance;
  static std::mutex s_mutex;
};

Singleton* Singleton::GetInstance() {
  Singleton* p = s_instance.load(std::memory_order_acquire);
  if (p == nullptr) { // 1st check
    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(s_mutex);
    p = s_instance.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
    if (p == nullptr) { // 2nd (double) check
      p = new Singleton();
      s_instance.store(p, std::memory_order_release);
    }
  }
  return p;
}
</syntaxhighlight>