Librarian resource allocation problem with Semaphore in Java

Question

Please help me with this two-part question. Here is the first part:

(Part 2: I have updated the code since - requirements have changed a bit.)

I am trying to implement the Librarian problem in Java. The Semaphore page on Wikipedia gives the library analogy of a Semaphore. In the first part, I am trying to model this problem. In my case, I am using a [Subject Matter Expert] instead of a Room as a resource.

Suppose a library has 10 identical study rooms, intended to be used by one student at a time. To prevent disputes, students must request a room from the front counter if they wish to make use of a study room. When a student has finished using a room, the student must return to the counter and indicate that one room has become free. If no rooms are free, students wait at the counter until someone relinquishes a room.

Since the rooms are identical, the librarian at the front desk does not keep track of which room is occupied, only the number of free rooms available. When a student requests a room, the librarian decreases this number. When a student releases a room, the librarian increases this number. Once access to a room is granted, the room can be used for as long as desired, and so it is not possible to book rooms ahead of time.

The problem I am facing in my implementation is regarding association of a Student with a Subject Matter Expert. How would you do this in the following secnario? All that the SubjectMatterExpert needs to do is print the Student Id (for now).

Part 2: New requirements:
- There are fixed number of Students, SMEs, and Book Closets
- Students have certain number of Books at the beginning (presently, books are just numbers)
- SMEs add or check out books from the Boook Closet at a Student's request
- Students specify add or check out action, number of books, and the Book Closet

This is the modified (edited) Student class:

package librarysimulation;

public class Student extends Thread {

    String studentId = "";
    Librarian librarian = null;
    int bookCount = 0;

    public Student(String id, Librarian lib, int book) {
        studentId = id;
        librarian = lib;
        bookCount = book;
    }

    @Override
    public void run() {

        System.out.println("Student " + studentId + " is requesting SME...");
        librarian.requestSME();

        try {
            // Do something
            System.out.println("Student " + studentId + " has access to an SME.");
            //How do I ask the SME to add OR checkOut 'x' number of books
            //from a given BookCloset?
        } finally {
            librarian.releaseSME();
        }
    }
}

This is the modified (edited) Librarian class:

package librarysimulation;

import java.util.concurrent.Semaphore;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;

public class Librarian {

    public Semaphore sme;
    public int bookClosetCount = 0;

    public Librarian(int smeCount, int bookCloset) {
        sme = new Semaphore(smeCount, true);
        bookClosetCount = bookCloset;
        //openLibrary(smeCount);
    }

    //Receive SME request from the Student here
    public void requestSME() {
        try {
            sme.acquire();
            //assign student to SME
        } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(Librarian.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }
    }

    //Release SME from the Student here
    public void releaseSME() {
        sme.release();//release SME
    }

    //Set the SME threads active (from constructor)
    //i.e., when the library opens, have the SMEs ready
    public final void openLibrary(int roomCount) {
        for (int i = 0; i < roomCount; i++) {
            SubjectMatterExpert s = new SubjectMatterExpert(String.valueOf(i));
            s.start();
        }
    }
}

This is the modified (edited) Subject Matter Expert class:

package librarysimulation;

public class SubjectMatterExpert extends Thread {
    String smeId = "";
    SubjectMatterExpert(String id) {
        smeId = id;
    }

    @Override
    public void run(){

        //Handle Student request
        //Students specify if they are checking out books or returning books
        //Students specify number of books
        //Students specify which closet

        //SME simply executes the method from the Book Closet instance
    }
}

This is the modified (edited) Simulator class:

package librarysimulation;

public class Simulator extends Thread {

    public static final int STUDENT_COUNT = 50;
    public static final int SME_COUNT = 3;
    public static final int BOOKCLOSET_COUNT = 10;
    public static final int BOOK_PER_STUDENT_COUNT = 10;

    @Override
    public void run() {
        //Instantiate Library//New library with 3 SMEs
        Librarian lib = new Librarian(SME_COUNT, BOOKCLOSET_COUNT);
        //Create students
        int i = 0;
        while (i < STUDENT_COUNT) {
            Student s = new Student(String.valueOf(i), lib, BOOK_PER_STUDENT_COUNT);
            s.start();
            i++;
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Simulator s = new Simulator();
        s.start();
    }
}

an this is the (new) Book Closet class:

package librarysimulation;

public class BookCloset {

    int closetId;
    int bookCount = 0;

    public BookCloset(int id, int book) {
        closetId = id;
        bookCount = book;
    }

    public int addBook(int book){
        return bookCount + book;
    }

    public int checkOutBook(int book){
        int finalBookCount = bookCount - book;
        //Change book count iff it makes sense to do so
        if(finalBookCount >= 0)
            bookCount = finalBookCount;
        //If return value is -ve, handle accordingly
        return finalBookCount;
    }
}

Answer 1

In the original librarian problem you described, the problem doesn't care which student is in which room, therefore uses a simple thread safe counter (i.e. a Semaphore) to implement control of the resources. Following that description of the problem there still needs to be an alteration of your implementation. One approach is to 2 methods on the librarian class, one for requesting the SME, the other for returning it.

class Librarian {
    Semaphore sme = new Semaphore(NUMBER_OF_SMES);

    void requestSme() throws InterruptedException {
        sme.acquire();
    }

    void releaseSme() {
        sme.release();
    }
}

 class Student {
     Librarian librarian;

     public void run() {

         libarian.requestSme();
         try {
             // Do something
         finally {
             librarian.releaseSme();
         }
     }
}

However if you do need to know which Student is working with which SME, then you need a different construct for managing the resources, a Semaphore is no longer sufficient. One example could be a Queue.

class Librarian {
    BlockingQueue<SubjectMatterExpert> q = 
        new ArrayBlockingQueue<SubjectMatterExpert>(NUMBER_OF_SMES);

    public Librarian() {
        for (int i = 0; i < NUMBER_OF_SMES; i++)
            q.put(new SubjectMatterExpert(String.valueOf(i));
    } 

    SubjectMatterExport requestSme() throws InterruptedException {
        q.take();
    }

    void releaseSme(SubjectMatterExpert toRelease) {
        q.put(toRelease);
    }
}

 class Student {
     Librarian librarian;

     public void run() {

         SubjectMatterExpert sme = libarian.requestSme();
         try {
             System.out.println("Student: " + this + ", SME: " sme);
         finally {
             if (sme != null)
                 librarian.releaseSme(sme);
         }
     }
}

Answer 2

It makes sense to have SMEs as threads running in a while loop. Check out some starting codes below. Also, you need to initialize the book closet somewhere at the beginning of the simulation. I don't know about the whole approach you are taking though.

package librarysimulation;

public class SubjectMatterExpert extends Thread {
    String smeId = "";
    SubjectMatterExpert(String id) {
        smeId = id;
    }

    @Override
    public void run(){

        while(true){
        //acquire a student (semaphor)
        //acquire a lock (semaphor(1))
             //critical region - 
             //Handle Student request
             //Students specify if they are checking out books or returning books
             //Students specify number of books
             //Students specify which closet
        //release yourself (semaphor - define in library)
        //release lock (semaphor(1)) 

        }
        //SME simply executes the method from the Book Closet instance
    }
}

Implement and double check with others in the forum. I am new here. More experienced voices may have a better say though. Hope this helps (= does not hurt) at the end.