Making dictionary access thread-safe?

Question

whats is the easiest way to make C# dictionary access thread safe? Preferably just using lock(object) but any other ideas welcome!

Solution

In .NET 4 you have the ConcurrentDictionary class.

If you need to use an older version of .NET, and want to write it yourself:

• wrap a Dictionary as a private field in your class
• use a separate private object lockObject
• take a lock on that lockObject around every access to the dictionary

Comments

[Thus Spoke Nomad]

Just wonder, why "use a seperate lock object"?

[Henk Holterman]

@MonoLightTech - a bit theoretical, but if code inside the Dictionary class itself or external code that needs to 'see' the collection also locks on it, you might have a deadlock. Use separation of concerns: the lockObject is for locking only.