History log of /src/share/man/man9/atomic_loadstore.9
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Revision tags: perseant-exfatfs-base-20250801 netbsd-11-base perseant-exfatfs-base-20240630 perseant-exfatfs-base
# 1.8 18-Jun-2024 riastradh

atomic_loadstore(9): Clarify relation to __HAVE_ATOMIC64_OPS.

PR kern/58340


Revision tags: netbsd-10-0-RELEASE netbsd-10-0-RC6 netbsd-10-0-RC5 netbsd-10-0-RC4 netbsd-10-0-RC3 netbsd-10-0-RC2 netbsd-10-0-RC1 netbsd-10-base
# 1.7 09-Apr-2022 riastradh

branches: 1.7.2;
Introduce membar_acquire/release. Deprecate membar_enter/exit.

The names membar_enter/exit were unclear, and the documentation of
membar_enter has disagreed with the implementations on sparc,
powerpc, and even x86(!) for the entire time it has been in NetBSD.

The terms `acquire' and `release' are ubiquitous in the literature
today, and have been adopted in the C and C++ standards to mean
load-before-load/store and load/store-before-store, respectively,
which are exactly the orderings required by acquiring and releasing a
mutex, as well as other useful applications like decrementing a
reference count and then freeing the underlying object if it went to
zero.

Originally I proposed changing one word in the documentation for
membar_enter to make it load-before-load/store instead of
store-before-load/store, i.e., to make it an acquire barrier. I
proposed this on the grounds that

(a) all implementations guarantee load-before-load/store,
(b) some implementations fail to guarantee store-before-load/store,
and
(c) all uses in-tree assume load-before-load/store.

I verified parts (a) and (b) (except, for (a), powerpc didn't even
guarantee load-before-load/store -- isync isn't necessarily enough;
need lwsync in general -- but it _almost_ did, and it certainly didn't
guarantee store-before-load/store).

Part (c) might not be correct, however: under the mistaken assumption
that atomic-r/m/w then membar-w/rw is equivalent to atomic-r/m/w then
membar-r/rw, I only audited the cases of membar_enter that _aren't_
immediately after an atomic-r/m/w. All of those cases assume
load-before-load/store. But my assumption was wrong -- there are
cases of atomic-r/m/w then membar-w/rw that would be broken by
changing to atomic-r/m/w then membar-r/rw:

https://mail-index.netbsd.org/tech-kern/2022/03/29/msg028044.html

Furthermore, the name membar_enter has been adopted in other places
like OpenBSD where it actually does follow the documentation and
guarantee store-before-load/store, even if that order is not useful.
So the name membar_enter currently lives in a bad place where it
means either of two things -- r/rw or w/rw.

With this change, we deprecate membar_enter/exit, introduce
membar_acquire/release as better names for the useful pair (r/rw and
rw/w), and make sure the implementation of membar_enter guarantees
both what was documented _and_ what was implemented, making it an
alias for membar_sync.

While here, rework all of the membar_* definitions and aliases. The
new logic follows a rule to make it easier to audit:

membar_X is defined as an alias for membar_Y iff membar_X is
guaranteed by membar_Y.

The `no stronger than' relation is (the transitive closure of):

- membar_consumer (r/r) is guaranteed by membar_acquire (r/rw)
- membar_producer (w/w) is guaranteed by membar_release (rw/w)
- membar_acquire (r/rw) is guaranteed by membar_sync (rw/rw)
- membar_release (rw/w) is guaranteed by membar_sync (rw/rw)

And, for the deprecated membars:

- membar_enter (whether r/rw, w/rw, or rw/rw) is guaranteed by
membar_sync (rw/rw)
- membar_exit (rw/w) is guaranteed by membar_release (rw/w)

(membar_exit is identical to membar_release, but the name is
deprecated.)

Finally, while here, annotate some of the instructions with their
semantics. For powerpc, leave an essay with citations on the
unfortunate but -- as far as I can tell -- necessary decision to use
lwsync, not isync, for membar_acquire and membar_consumer.

Also add membar(3) and atomic(3) man page links.


Revision tags: cjep_sun2x-base1 cjep_sun2x-base cjep_staticlib_x-base1 cjep_staticlib_x-base
# 1.6 03-Sep-2020 riastradh

atomic_load/store_* appeared in NetBSD 9, not 10.

Pullup preceded release of 9.0.


Revision tags: phil-wifi-20200421 phil-wifi-20200411 is-mlppp-base phil-wifi-20200406
# 1.5 08-Dec-2019 uwe

branches: 1.5.2; 1.5.6;
Simplify markup for inline code to plain .Li in most places.

Use backslashes to protetect embedded spaces in inline code to prevent
filling from stretching them.

Use .Fn and .Fa to refer only to things this manual page documents,
they are not to be used for "a function" or "a function argument" in
general.

In code examples drop the empty line at the beginning of a function
(mandated by the KNF when there are no variables) - it doesn't help
readability here.


# 1.4 07-Dec-2019 wiz

Simplify macro usage.


# 1.3 30-Nov-2019 riastradh

Use .Sy, not .Em, for bold-faced WARNING of impending doom.

Underline and, worse, italic aren't as good at catching the eye.


# 1.2 30-Nov-2019 riastradh

Document relation to atomic_ops(3) and membar_ops(3).


# 1.1 29-Nov-2019 riastradh

New atomic load/store operations for the kernel.

Guarantee no fusing and no tearing, and can optionally impose
ordering relative to other memory operations.

Unordered:
- atomic_load_relaxed
- atomic_store_relaxed

Ordered:
- atomic_load_acquire
- atomic_load_consume
- atomic_store_release

These are intended to match C11 semantics, and can be defined in
terms of the C11 atomic API when ready.