Re: [PATCH v3] tools/memory-model/Documentation: Fix "conflict" definition

[Alan Stern]

On Mon, 2 Mar 2020, Marco Elver wrote:

> The definition of "conflict" should not include the type of access nor
> whether the accesses are concurrent or not, which this patch addresses.
> The definition of "data race" remains unchanged.
> 
> The definition of "conflict" as we know it and is cited by various
> papers on memory consistency models appeared in [1]: "Two accesses to
> the same variable conflict if at least one is a write; two operations
> conflict if they execute conflicting accesses."
> 
> The LKMM as well as the C11 memory model are adaptations of
> data-race-free, which are based on the work in [2]. Necessarily, we need
> both conflicting data operations (plain) and synchronization operations
> (marked). For example, C11's definition is based on [3], which defines a
> "data race" as: "Two memory operations conflict if they access the same
> memory location, and at least one of them is a store, atomic store, or
> atomic read-modify-write operation. In a sequentially consistent
> execution, two memory operations from different threads form a type 1
> data race if they conflict, at least one of them is a data operation,
> and they are adjacent in <T (i.e., they may be executed concurrently)."
> 
> [1] D. Shasha, M. Snir, "Efficient and Correct Execution of Parallel
>     Programs that Share Memory", 1988.
> 	URL: http://snir.cs.illinois.edu/listed/J21.pdf
> 
> [2] S. Adve, "Designing Memory Consistency Models for Shared-Memory
>     Multiprocessors", 1993.
> 	URL: http://sadve.cs.illinois.edu/Publications/thesis.pdf
> 
> [3] H.-J. Boehm, S. Adve, "Foundations of the C++ Concurrency Memory
>     Model", 2008.
> 	URL: https://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2008/HPL-2008-56.pdf
> 
> Signed-off-by: Marco Elver <elver@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Co-developed-by: Alan Stern <stern@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Alan Stern <stern@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> v3:
> * Apply Alan's suggestion.
> * s/two race candidates/race candidates/

Looks good!

Alan