PHP concurrent changes on session variable for same user?

Question

Suppose we have a user variable $_SESSION['variable'] that may or may not be modified as the user access a page.

Suppose the same user has several browser windows open and somehow makes simultaneous requests to the server that result on changes to the session variable.

Questions:

How does the server "queue" these changes, since they are targeted at the same variable? Is there a potential for server error here?

Is there a way to "lock" the session variable for reading/writing in order to implement some kind of status check before changing its value?

EDIT ( thanks Unheilig for the cleanup)

Regarding the "queueing", I am interested in what happens if two requests arrive at the same time:

Change X to 1

Change X to 2

I know this doesn't seem a real world scenario, but it just came to my mind when designing something. It could become a problem if the system allows too many concurrent requests from the same user.

AFAIK the server doesn't queue sessions, and changing the session shouldn't result in a server error - though it may result in an error with your application; it's up to your application to check the SESSION and make sure you're receiving the correct information, and then process it accordingly. — timgavin
– timgavin, Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 22:49
if you want to "lock" the data, perhaps you'd be better off putting it into a database instead of a SESSION, and then checking the table before making changes or granting access, etc. — timgavin
– timgavin, Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 22:52
Not really sure how practical this problem is in reality. PHP doesn't queue anything, it will just run each request as it gets it - you MAY be able to protect your code by have another session variable that acts as a locking variable for all others - but this would be poor design really " — Trent
– Trent, Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 22:52
Thanks @Tim, but my concern is more related to "two changes at the same time". The server doesn't queue them, but it must choose between two requests or refuse both, doesn't it? — noderman
– noderman, Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 22:54
You're assuming PHP does something... As soon as a request hits the server, it's processed. It's VERY unlikely it would ever get a simultaneous request — Trent
– Trent, Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 22:56

Jim Morrison · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-06 05:04:27Z

11

Each individual PHP Session is 'locked' between the call to session_start() and either the call to session_write_close() or the end of the request, whichever is sooner.

Most of the time you would never notice this behaviour.

However, if you have a site which does make many concurrent requests* then these requests would appear to queue in first-come-first-served order.

To be clear; in a typical Apache/PHP setup your requests will come in to the server and start your PHP executions concurrently. It is the session_start() call that will block/pause/wait/queue because it's waiting to gain the file-lock on the session file (or similar depending on your session_hander).

To increase request throughput or reduce waiting requests therefore:

Open and close the session (session_start(), do_work(), session_write_close()) as rapidly as possible; to reduce the time the session is locked for writing.
Make sure you're not leaving the session open on requests that are doing long work (accessing 3rd party APIs, generating or manipulating documents, running long database queries etc).. unless absolutely necessary.
Avoid, where possible, touching the session at all. Be as RESTful as possible.
Manage the queuing and debouncing of requests as elegantly as possible on the client side of the application

Hope that helps.

J.

*Ajax & Frame/iFrame heavy applications often exhibit this problem.

answered May 6, 2015 at 5:04

Jim Morrison

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1 Comment

noderman Over a year ago

Thanks. Yes, I am moving towards a restful approach, trying not to resort on sessions.

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