Talk:Read-copy-update

Problems with this page

I just scanned this article several times looking for the spot where RCU is actually explained, and I keep missing it. The first part of the Overview section looks promising, but ultimately dances around the point it's trying to make.

The rcu_assign_pointer primitive is used to carry out this assignment, and ensures that the assignment is atomic in the sense that concurrent readers will either see a NULL pointer or a valid pointer to the new structure, but not some mash-up of the two values.

This is explaining very little; it simply introduces a magic primitive. Even more confusing is that one of the references asserts that no reader-side synchronization is needed, while the Overview section specifies the need for rcu_read_lock and a corresponding unlock operation. After giving this all-too-high level overview, we plunge into the depths of Linux kernel code.

Another problem with the page is the use of peacock terms such as "excellent performance, scalability, and real-time response". QVVERTYVS (hm?) 13:37, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

Hmmmm... An alternative to the "peacock terms" would be something like this: "In the most aggressive implementations, which are actually used in practice in production, RCU readers can use the exact same sequence of machine instructions that would be used in a single-threaded environment." Would that be better, or would that still considered to be peacockery? PaulMcKenney (talk) 19:18, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

This paper gives a much more precise overview than this wiki page. It's a bit dense, but it sets out the conditions and mechanism in/by which RCU works. QVVERTYVS (hm?) 13:55, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

I certainly have no objection to the description in that paper. That paper's supplementary materials might also be of interest.

Given that there is a quite a bit more RCU-related material available than ten years ago, and given that you have formally registered your discomfort with my editing this page, I will leave this to you. I do expect to check up on it from time to time, of course. PaulMcKenney (talk) 19:18, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

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Introduction modified

Removed jargon and peacockry. Described abstractly what rcu is, where its used, and how it functions. SecularJohannes (talk) 03:43, 14 March 2017 (UTC)