[concurrency-interest] RFR: 8065804: JEP 171: Clarifications/corrections for fence intrinsics

[Martin Buchholz]

Webrev updated to remove the comparison with volatile loads and stores.

On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 2:40 PM, David Holmes <david.holmes at oracle.com> wrote:
> On 6/12/2014 7:49 AM, Martin Buchholz wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 5:55 PM, David Holmes <david.holmes at oracle.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> In general phrasing like: " also known as a LoadLoad plus LoadStore
>>> barrier
>>> ..." is misleading to me as these are not "aliases"- the loadFence (in
>>> this
>>> case) is being specified to have the same semantics as the
>>> loadload|storeload. It should say "corresponds to a LoadLoad plus
>>> LoadStore
>>> barrier"
>>
>>
>> +     * Ensures that loads before the fence will not be reordered with
>> loads and
>> +     * stores after the fence; also known as a LoadLoad plus LoadStore
>> barrier,
>>
>> I don't understand this.  I believe they _are_ aliases.  The first
>> clause perfectly describes a "LoadLoad plus LoadStore barrier".
>
>
> I find the language use inappropriate - you are defining the first to be the
> second.

Am I missing something?  Is there something else that "LoadLoad plus
LoadStore barrier" (as used in hotspot sources and elsewhere) could
possibly mean?

>>   - as per the "Corresponds to a C11 ...". And referring to things
>>>
>>> like "load-acquire fence" is meaningless without some reference to a
>>> definition - who defines a load-acquire fence? Is there a universal
>>> definition? I would be okay with something looser eg:
>>
>>
>> Well, I'm defining "load-acquire fence" here in the javadoc - I'm
>> claiming that loadFence is also known via other terminology, including
>> "load-acquire fence".  Although it's true that "load-acquire fence" is
>> also used to refer to the corresponding C11 fence, which has subtly
>> different semantics.
>
>
> When you say "also known as XXX" it means that XXX is already defined
> elsewhere. Unless there is a generally accepted definition of XXX then this
> doesn't add much value.

Everything about this topic is confusing, but I continue to think that
"load-acquire fence" is a common industry term.  One of the reasons I
want to include them in the javadoc is precisely because these
different terms are generally used synonymously.