Two version of the same code not giving the same result - ruby

Question

I am trying to implement a simple timeout class that handles timeouts of different requests.
Here is the first version:
class MyTimer
def handleTimeout mHash, k
while mHash[k] > 0 do
mHash[k] -=1
sleep 1
puts "#{k} : #{mHash[k]}"
end
end
end
MAX = 3
timeout = Hash.new
timeout[1] = 41
timeout[2] = 5
timeout[3] = 14
t1 = MyTimer.new
t2 = MyTimer.new
t3 = MyTimer.new
first = Thread.new do
t1.handleTimeout(timeout,1)
end
second = Thread.new do
t2.handleTimeout(timeout,2)
end
third = Thread.new do
t3.handleTimeout(timeout,3)
end
first.join
second.join
third.join
This seems to work fine. All the timeouts work independently of each other.
Screenshot attached
The second version of the code however produces different results:
class MyTimer
def handleTimeout mHash, k
while mHash[k] > 0 do
mHash[k] -=1
sleep 1
puts "#{k} : #{mHash[k]}"
end
end
end
MAX = 3
timeout = Hash.new
timers = Array.new(MAX+1)
threads = Array.new(MAX+1)
for i in 0..MAX do
timeout[i] = rand(40)
# To see timeout value
puts "#{i} : #{timeout[i]}"
end
sleep 1
for i in 0..MAX do
timers[i] = MyTimer.new
threads[i] = Thread.new do
timers[i].handleTimeout( timeout, i)
end
end
for i in 0..MAX do
threads[i].join
end
Screenshot attached
Why is this happening?
How can I implement this functionality using arrays?
Is there a better way to implement the same functionality?

Answer 1

In the loop in which you are creating threads by using Thread.new, the variable i is shared between main thread (where threads are getting created) and in the threads created. So, the value of i seen by handleTimeout is not consistent and you get different results.
You can validate this by adding a debug statement in your method:
#...
def handleTimeout mHash, k
puts "Handle timeout called for #{mHash} and #{k}"
#...
end
#...
To fix the issue, you need to use code like below. Here parameters are passed to Thread.new and subsequently accessed using block variables.
for i in 0..MAX do
timers[i] = MyTimer.new
threads[i] = Thread.new(timeout, i) do |a, b|
timers[i].handleTimeout(a, b)
end
end
More on this issue is described in When do you need to pass arguments to Thread.new? and this article.