[jira] Commented: (CODEC-96) Base64 encode() method is no longer thread-safe, breaking clients using it as a shared BinaryEncoder

["Matt Ryall (JIRA)" <ji...@apache.org>]

    [ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CODEC-96?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12850769#action_12850769 ] 

Matt Ryall commented on CODEC-96:
---------------------------------

Patch looks to me like it would work. Unfortunately, I haven't got the environment to test it any more. We've removed the BinaryEncoder-style API usage and replaced with calls to the static methods on Base64.

It would be good to add a unit test for this, but I'm couldn't see how you'd go about it. There are no hooks in the encoding process that allow you to stop one thread while another kicks off. I'll leave it to your discretion whether some kind of test is worth pursuing.

> Base64 encode() method is no longer thread-safe, breaking clients using it as a shared BinaryEncoder
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>                 Key: CODEC-96
>                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CODEC-96
>             Project: Commons Codec
>          Issue Type: Bug
>    Affects Versions: 1.4
>            Reporter: Matt Ryall
>         Attachments: codec-96-2nd-attempt.patch
>
>
> Streaming support was added to Base64 in commons-codec 1.4 with CODEC-69. This introduced instance variables to Base64 which means the class can no longer be used as a shared BinaryEncoder instance.
> For example, BinaryEncoder has an interface which could be (and was) used like this with Base64:
> {code:java}
> class Example {
>     private BinaryEncoder encoder = new Base64();
>     byte[] someMethod(byte[] data) {
>         try {
>             return encoder.encode(data);
>         }
>         catch (EncoderException e) {
>             throw new RuntimeException(e);
>         }
>     } 
> }
> {code}
> Base64 is no longer thread-safe in commons-codec 1.4, so code like the above which is accessed by multiple threads can throw NullPointerException:
> {noformat}
> java.lang.NullPointerException
> 	at org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64.encode(Base64.java:469)
> 	at org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64.encode(Base64.java:937)
> 	at ... (application code)
> {noformat}
> Looking at the implementation of Base64, I think making it thread-safe for this kind of usage would be quite tricky. I haven't attempted to prepare a patch.
> I would be happy if it was indicated in the Javadoc that Base64 is not thread-safe and should not be shared. However, some other users of commons-codec might be more worried about this regression.

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