From: Akira Yokosawa <akiyks@gmail.com>
To: "Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@kernel.org>
Cc: perfbook@vger.kernel.org, Akira Yokosawa <akiyks@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH -perfbook 3/6] defer/rcuintro: Tweak Listings 9.13 and 9.14 by employing fancyvrb
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2026 19:26:29 +0900 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <6cb62056-ff2f-413a-9ff5-de9eb688044f@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <5365c170-af04-466e-876b-7c220b327591@gmail.com>
For better consistency in presenting code snippets, employ
fancyvrb's Verbatim env. Automate line counting as well.
While here, do "s/-/--/" for "lines~C1-C3" as well.
(Line number labeling/referencing might be automated in the
future ...)
Signed-off-by: Akira Yokosawa <akiyks@gmail.com>
---
defer/rcuintro.tex | 96 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------
1 file changed, 57 insertions(+), 39 deletions(-)
diff --git a/defer/rcuintro.tex b/defer/rcuintro.tex
index 21a99243..596f138f 100644
--- a/defer/rcuintro.tex
+++ b/defer/rcuintro.tex
@@ -69,64 +69,82 @@ can be implemented with a single load instruction, exactly the instruction
that would normally be used in single-threaded code.
\begin{listing}[tb]
-{ \small
-\begin{verbatim}
- A1 p = gp;
- A2 do_something_with(p->a);
- A3 do_something_with(p->b);
-\end{verbatim}
+\small
+\fvset{numbers=left,numbersep=5pt,fontsize=\scriptsize,frame=single,xleftmargin=15pt,xrightmargin=5pt}
+{\renewcommand{\theFancyVerbLine}{%
+ {\rmfamily\tiny A\arabic{FancyVerbLine}}}
+\begin{Verbatim}
+ p = gp;
+ do_something_with(p->a);
+ do_something_with(p->b);
+\end{Verbatim}
+}
Might be transformed to:
-\begin{verbatim}
- B1 p = gp;
- B2 do_something_with(p->a);
- B3 p = gp;
- B4 do_something_with(p->b);
-\end{verbatim}
+{\renewcommand{\theFancyVerbLine}{%
+ {\rmfamily\tiny B\arabic{FancyVerbLine}}}
+\begin{Verbatim}
+ p = gp;
+ do_something_with(p->a);
+ p = gp;
+ do_something_with(p->b);
+\end{Verbatim}
+}
The compiler assumes normal variables do not spontaneously change,
\co{do_something_with()} might use many machine registers, and this
transformation reduces register pressure.
-But if some other thread changes \co{gp} between lines~1 and~3 of the
+But if some other thread changes \co{gp} between lines~B1 and~B3 of the
transformed code, the values of \co{p->a} and \co{p->b} will be mismatched.
Prevent this by using \co{rcu_dereference()} as follows:
-\begin{verbatim}
- C1 p = rcu_dereference(gp);
- C2 do_something_with(p->a);
- C3 do_something_with(p->b);
-\end{verbatim}
+{\renewcommand{\theFancyVerbLine}{%
+ {\rmfamily\tiny C\arabic{FancyVerbLine}}}
+\begin{Verbatim}
+ p = rcu_dereference(gp);
+ do_something_with(p->a);
+ do_something_with(p->b);
+\end{Verbatim}
}
\caption{Compilers Can Reload Values}
\label{lst:defer:Compilers Can Reload Values}
\end{listing}
\begin{listing}[tb]
-{ \small
-\begin{verbatim}
- A1 p = malloc(sizeof(*p));
- A2 p->a = compute_value();
- A3 p->b = 42;
- A4 gp = p;
-\end{verbatim}
+\small
+\fvset{numbers=left,numbersep=5pt,fontsize=\scriptsize,frame=single,xleftmargin=15pt,xrightmargin=5pt}
+{\renewcommand{\theFancyVerbLine}{%
+ {\rmfamily\tiny A\arabic{FancyVerbLine}}}
+\begin{Verbatim}
+ p = malloc(sizeof(*p));
+ p->a = compute_value();
+ p->b = 42;
+ gp = p;
+\end{Verbatim}
+}
Might be transformed to:
-\begin{verbatim}
- B1 p = malloc(sizeof(*p));
- B2 gp = p;
- B3 p->a = compute_value();
- B4 p->b = 42;
-\end{verbatim}
+{\renewcommand{\theFancyVerbLine}{%
+ {\rmfamily\tiny B\arabic{FancyVerbLine}}}
+\begin{Verbatim}
+ p = malloc(sizeof(*p));
+ gp = p;
+ p->a = compute_value();
+ p->b = 42;
+\end{Verbatim}
+}
The compiler assumes normal variables are not concurrently accessed,
and thus that the order of stores does not matter.
If \co{compute_value()} was inlined, this transformation might produce
better code.
In this example, if some other thread loads \co{gp} immediately after
-line~2 of the transformed code, that thread might see pre-initialization
+line~B2 of the transformed code, that thread might see pre-initialization
garbage in \co{p->a} and \co{p->b}.
Prevent this by using \co{rcu_assign_pointer()} as follows:
-\begin{verbatim}
- C1 p = malloc(sizeof(*p));
- C2 p->a = compute_value();
- C3 p->b = 42;
- C4 rcu_assign_pointer(gp, p);
-\end{verbatim}
+{\renewcommand{\theFancyVerbLine}{%
+ {\rmfamily\tiny C\arabic{FancyVerbLine}}}
+\begin{Verbatim}
+ p = malloc(sizeof(*p));
+ p->a = compute_value();
+ p->b = 42;
+ rcu_assign_pointer(gp, p);
+\end{Verbatim}
}
\caption{Compilers Can Reorder Accesses}
\label{lst:defer:Compilers Can Reorder Accesses}
@@ -146,7 +164,7 @@ This transformation would fatally confuse any implementation of
\co{do_something_with()} that assumed that it was being passed values
from the same structure.
To prevent this transformation, use \co{rcu_dereference()} as
-shown on lines~C1-C3 of this listing, thus informing the compiler of the
+shown on lines~C1--C3 of this listing, thus informing the compiler of the
possibility of concurrent updates to \co{gp}.
To see the need for \co{rcu_assign_pointer()}, please see lines~A1--A4 of
--
2.43.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-06-23 10:26 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-06-23 10:20 [PATCH -perfbook 0/6] 2nd batch for June 2026 Akira Yokosawa
2026-06-23 10:21 ` [PATCH -perfbook 1/6] runlatex.sh: Cope with missing cleveref.sty Akira Yokosawa
2026-06-23 10:22 ` [PATCH -perfbook 2/6] Stop loading braket.sty Akira Yokosawa
2026-06-23 10:26 ` Akira Yokosawa [this message]
2026-06-23 10:28 ` [PATCH -perfbook 4/6] defer/rcuintro: More tweaks for Listings 9.13 and 9.14 Akira Yokosawa
2026-06-23 10:30 ` [PATCH -perfbook 5/6] defer/rcufundamental: Fix typo ("cannot not return") Akira Yokosawa
2026-06-23 10:31 ` [PATCH -perfbook 6/6] Update rcu-test-ratio for Linux v7.1 Akira Yokosawa
2026-06-23 16:33 ` [PATCH -perfbook 0/6] 2nd batch for June 2026 Paul E. McKenney
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