[cpp-threads] Alternatives to SC (prohibiting data races, etc.)

[Lawrence Crowl]

On 1/31/07, Paul E. McKenney <paulmck at linux.vnet.ibm.com> wrote:
> OK, so the real name is atomic_load_relaxed() as opposed to load_raw()?

In the current paper, yes.  I hesitate to make a claim about the standard
itself as there are several months and several votes left.  :-)

> And this will do a load without memory barriers or atomics,

That is an implementation question that can only be answered with
respect to a given platform.

The paper has a (really, really) minimal conforming implementation,
and its atomic_load_relaxed() effectively uses a lock.

Some people believe that on x86, a simple load is sufficient.

> but with no danger of subsequent refetches?

What do you mean by "refetch" here?

> And, if applied to a lock_free() datum, the load is atomic in that it
> sees the value from a particular prior store (or the initial value)?

That should be true regardless of the result of lock_free().
(Remember to be careful about what "prior" means.)

-- 
Lawrence Crowl