Support nil values in Map (#6)

README.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ v, ok := m.Load("foo")
 
 CLHT is built around idea to organize the hash table in cache-line-sized buckets, so that on all modern CPUs update operations complete with at most one cache-line transfer. Also, Get operations involve no write to memory, as well as no mutexes or any other sort of locks. Due to this design, in all considered scenarios Map outperforms sync.Map.
 
-One important difference with sync.Map is that only string keys are supported. That's because Golang standard library does not expose the built-in hash functions for `interface{}` values. Another difference with sync.Map is that nil values are not supported. Use Delete operation or a special "nil" value to overcome this restriction.
+One important difference with sync.Map is that only string keys are supported. That's because Golang standard library does not expose the built-in hash functions for `interface{}` values.
 
 ## MPMCQueue
 

map.go

@@ -37,10 +37,7 @@ const (
 //
 // One important difference with sync.Map is that only string keys
 // are supported. That's because Golang standard library does not
-// expose the built-in hash functions for interface{} values. Another
-// difference with sync.Map is that nil values are not supported. Use
-// Delete operation or a special "nil" value to overcome this
-// restriction.
+// expose the built-in hash functions for interface{} values.
 //
 // Also note that, unlike in sync.Map, the underlying hash table used
 // by Map never shrinks and only grows on demand. However, this
@@ -65,6 +62,11 @@ type rangeEntry struct {
 	value unsafe.Pointer
 }
 
+// special type to mark nil values
+type nilValue struct{}
+
+var nilVal = new(nilValue)
+
 // NewMap creates a new Map instance.
 func NewMap() *Map {
 	m := &Map{}
@@ -89,10 +91,10 @@ func (m *Map) Load(key string) (value interface{}, ok bool) {
 				vp := atomic.LoadPointer(&b.values[i])
 				kp := atomic.LoadPointer(&b.keys[i])
 				if kp != nil && vp != nil {
-					if key == *(*string)(kp) {
+					if key == derefKey(kp) {
 						if uintptr(vp) == uintptr(atomic.LoadPointer(&b.values[i])) {
 							// Atomic snapshot succeeded.
-							return *(*interface{})(vp), true
+							return derefValue(vp), true
 						}
 						// Concurrent update/remove of the key case. Go for another spin.
 						continue
@@ -112,24 +114,20 @@ func (m *Map) Load(key string) (value interface{}, ok bool) {
 }
 
 // Store sets the value for a key.
-//
-// A panic is raised if a nil value is provided.
 func (m *Map) Store(key string, value interface{}) {
 	m.doStore(key, value, false)
 }
 
 // LoadOrStore returns the existing value for the key if present.
 // Otherwise, it stores and returns the given value.
 // The loaded result is true if the value was loaded, false if stored.
-//
-// A panic is raised if a nil value is provided.
 func (m *Map) LoadOrStore(key string, value interface{}) (actual interface{}, loaded bool) {
 	return m.doStore(key, value, true)
 }
 
 func (m *Map) doStore(key string, value interface{}, loadIfExists bool) (actual interface{}, loaded bool) {
 	if value == nil {
-		panic("nil values are not supported")
+		value = nilVal
 	}
 	// Read-only path.
 	if loadIfExists {
@@ -162,10 +160,10 @@ func (m *Map) doStore(key string, value interface{}, loadIfExists bool) (actual
 		for {
 			for i := 0; i < entriesPerMapBucket; i++ {
 				if b.keys[i] != nil {
-					k := *(*string)(b.keys[i])
+					k := derefKey(b.keys[i])
 					if k == key {
 						if loadIfExists {
-							return *(*interface{})(b.values[i]), true
+							return derefValue(b.values[i]), true
 						}
 						// In-place update case. Luckily we get a copy of the value
 						// interface{} on each call, thus the live value pointers are
@@ -250,7 +248,7 @@ func copyBucket(b *bucket, table []bucket) {
 	for {
 		for i := 0; i < entriesPerMapBucket; i++ {
 			if b.keys[i] != nil {
-				k := *(*string)(b.keys[i])
+				k := derefKey(b.keys[i])
 				hash := fnv32(k)
 				destb := &table[uint32(len(table)-1)&hash]
 				appendToBucket(destb, b.keys[i], b.values[i])
@@ -310,15 +308,15 @@ func (m *Map) LoadAndDelete(key string) (value interface{}, loaded bool) {
 			for i := 0; i < entriesPerMapBucket; i++ {
 				kp := b.keys[i]
 				if kp != nil {
-					k := *(*string)(kp)
+					k := derefKey(kp)
 					if k == key {
 						vp := b.values[i]
 						// Deletion case. First we update the value, then the key.
 						// This is important for atomic snapshot states.
 						atomic.StorePointer(&b.values[i], nil)
 						atomic.StorePointer(&b.keys[i], nil)
 						rootb.mu.Unlock()
-						return *(*interface{})(vp), true
+						return derefValue(vp), true
 					}
 				}
 			}
@@ -358,8 +356,8 @@ func (m *Map) Range(f func(key string, value interface{}) bool) {
 			if bentries[j].key == nil {
 				break
 			}
-			k := *(*string)(bentries[j].key)
-			v := *(*interface{})(bentries[j].value)
+			k := derefKey(bentries[j].key)
+			v := derefValue(bentries[j].value)
 			if !f(k, v) {
 				return
 			}
@@ -394,3 +392,15 @@ func copyRangeEntries(bentries *[]rangeEntry, b *bucket) {
 		b = (*bucket)(b.next)
 	}
 }
+
+func derefKey(keyPtr unsafe.Pointer) string {
+	return *(*string)(keyPtr)
+}
+
+func derefValue(valuePtr unsafe.Pointer) interface{} {
+	value := *(*interface{})(valuePtr)
+	if _, ok := value.(*nilValue); ok {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return value
+}

map_test.go

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ var benchmarkCases = []struct {
 	{"0%-reads", 0},     //   0% loads,   50% stores,   50% deletes
 }
 
-func TestMapBucketStructSize(t *testing.T) {
+func TestMap_BucketStructSize(t *testing.T) {
 	if bits.UintSize != 64 {
 		return // skip for 32-bit builds
 	}
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func TestMapBucketStructSize(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestMapMissingEntry(t *testing.T) {
+func TestMap_MissingEntry(t *testing.T) {
 	m := NewMap()
 	v, ok := m.Load("foo")
 	if ok {
@@ -55,22 +55,28 @@ func TestMapMissingEntry(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestMapStoreNilValue(t *testing.T) {
+func TestMapStore_NilValue(t *testing.T) {
 	m := NewMap()
-	defer func() {
-		recover()
-	}()
 	m.Store("foo", nil)
-	t.Error("no panic was raised")
+	v, ok := m.Load("foo")
+	if !ok {
+		t.Error("nil value was expected")
+	}
+	if v != nil {
+		t.Errorf("value was not nil: %v", v)
+	}
 }
 
-func TestMapLoadOrStoreNilValue(t *testing.T) {
+func TestMapLoadOrStore_NilValue(t *testing.T) {
 	m := NewMap()
-	defer func() {
-		recover()
-	}()
 	m.LoadOrStore("foo", nil)
-	t.Error("no panic was raised")
+	v, loaded := m.LoadOrStore("foo", nil)
+	if !loaded {
+		t.Error("nil value was expected")
+	}
+	if v != nil {
+		t.Errorf("value was not nil: %v", v)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestMapRange(t *testing.T) {