[PATCH] Documentation: atomic_ops: use {READ,WRITE}_ONCE()

From: Mark Rutland
Date: Wed Nov 16 2016 - 06:14:51 EST


While the {READ,WRITE}_ONCE() macros should be used in preference to
ACCESS_ONCE(), the atomic documentation uses the latter exclusively.

To point people in the right direction, and as a step towards the
eventual removal of ACCESS_ONCE(), update the documentation to use the
{READ,WRITE}_ONCE() macros as appropriate.

Signed-off-by: Mark Rutland <mark.rutland@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Will Deacon <will.deacon@xxxxxxx>
Cc: linux-doc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
---
Documentation/atomic_ops.txt | 18 +++++++++---------
1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt b/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt
index c9d1cac..a1b9a54 100644
--- a/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt
+++ b/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt
@@ -90,10 +90,10 @@ compiler optimizes the section accessing atomic_t variables.

Properly aligned pointers, longs, ints, and chars (and unsigned
equivalents) may be atomically loaded from and stored to in the same
-sense as described for atomic_read() and atomic_set(). The ACCESS_ONCE()
-macro should be used to prevent the compiler from using optimizations
-that might otherwise optimize accesses out of existence on the one hand,
-or that might create unsolicited accesses on the other.
+sense as described for atomic_read() and atomic_set(). The READ_ONCE()
+and WRITE_ONCE() macros should be used to prevent the compiler from using
+optimizations that might otherwise optimize accesses out of existence on
+the one hand, or that might create unsolicited accesses on the other.

For example consider the following code:

@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ the following:
If you don't want the compiler to do this (and you probably don't), then
you should use something like the following:

- while (ACCESS_ONCE(a) < 0)
+ while (READ_ONCE(a) < 0)
do_something();

Alternatively, you could place a barrier() call in the loop.
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ of registers: reloading from variable a could save a flush to the
stack and later reload. To prevent the compiler from attacking your
code in this manner, write the following:

- tmp_a = ACCESS_ONCE(a);
+ tmp_a = READ_ONCE(a);
do_something_with(tmp_a);
do_something_else_with(tmp_a);

@@ -166,14 +166,14 @@ that expected b to never have the value 42 if a was zero. To prevent
the compiler from doing this, write something like:

if (a)
- ACCESS_ONCE(b) = 9;
+ WRITE_ONCE(b, 9);
else
- ACCESS_ONCE(b) = 42;
+ WRITE_ONCE(b, 42);

Don't even -think- about doing this without proper use of memory barriers,
locks, or atomic operations if variable a can change at runtime!

-*** WARNING: ACCESS_ONCE() DOES NOT IMPLY A BARRIER! ***
+*** WARNING: READ_ONCE() OR WRITE_ONCE() DO NOT IMPLY A BARRIER! ***

Now, we move onto the atomic operation interfaces typically implemented with
the help of assembly code.
--
1.9.1