fix: Prevent race condition on updateContext

[fabriziodemaria]

This PR

Fixes possible race conditions detected when running updateEvaluationContextAndWait in parallel

Testing

Note that each of the three added tests fails without the proposed fixes

Notes

Stacktrace for the original crash:

Task 22150 Queue : com.apple.root.default-qos.cooperative (concurrent)
#0	0x00000001970125c4 in _swift_release_dealloc ()
#1	0x0000000197013094 in swift::RefCounts<swift::RefCountBitsT<(swift::RefCountInlinedness)1>>::doDecrementSlow<(swift::PerformDeinit)1> ()
#2	0x00000001129667f8 in __swift_destroy_boxed_opaque_existential_1 ()
#3	0x000000011296a844 in outlined destroy of EvaluationContext? ()
#4	0x0000000112975098 in OpenFeatureAPI.updateContext(evaluationContext:) at /Users/XXX/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/confidence-sdk-swift-XXX/SourcePackages/checkouts/swift-sdk/Sources/OpenFeature/OpenFeatureAPI.swift:187
#5	0x0000000112973690 in closure #1 in closure #1 in closure #1 in OpenFeatureAPI.setEvaluationContextAndWait(evaluationContext:) at /Users/XXX/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/confidence-sdk-swift-XXX/SourcePackages/checkouts/swift-sdk/Sources/OpenFeature/OpenFeatureAPI.swift:95
#6	0x0000000112975f40 in partial apply for closure #1 in closure #1 in closure #1 in OpenFeatureAPI.setEvaluationContextAndWait(evaluationContext:) ()
#7	0x00000001129764dc in thunk for @escaping @isolated(any) @callee_guaranteed @async () -> (@out A) ()
#8	0x0000000112976648 in partial apply for thunk for @escaping @isolated(any) @callee_guaranteed @async () -> (@out A) ()

[gemini-code-assist]

Summary of Changes

Hello @fabriziodemaria, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request resolves a critical race condition identified in the updateEvaluationContextAndWait function, which previously caused crashes under parallel execution. The solution involves implementing an AsyncSerialQueue to ensure that all context updates are processed in a strictly sequential manner, thereby guaranteeing data integrity and system stability. A dedicated concurrency test has been added to validate the effectiveness of this fix.

Highlights

• Race Condition Fix: Addressed a potential race condition in the updateEvaluationContextAndWait method, which could lead to crashes when called concurrently.
• Asynchronous Serial Queue: Introduced a new AsyncSerialQueue actor to serialize context update operations, ensuring that updateContext calls are processed sequentially.
• Simplified Context Update: Refactored setEvaluationContextAndWait to directly invoke updateContext, leveraging the new serial queue for safe execution.
• Concurrency Test Added: Included a new test case, ConcurrencyRaceConditionTests, to specifically simulate and verify the fix for concurrent setEvaluationContextAndWait calls.

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[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request addresses a race condition in updateContext by introducing an AsyncSerialQueue actor to serialize concurrent updates. The approach is sound and effectively resolves the reported crash. A new test case has been added to verify the fix by simulating concurrent access, which is great.

My review includes two main points:

1. A suggestion to make the new concurrency test more robust by asserting the final state, rather than just checking for a crash.
2. A more critical concern about a remaining race condition. The introduction of contextUpdateQueue creates a second synchronization mechanism alongside the existing DispatchQueue. This can lead to data races on shared state (like evaluationContext) between methods synchronized differently, such as updateContext and setProvider. I've detailed this in a comment and recommend unifying the synchronization strategy for the OpenFeatureAPI class.

Overall, this is a good fix for the immediate problem, but the underlying concurrency management of the OpenFeatureAPI class needs a more holistic review to ensure thread safety.