[boost] _ReadWriteBarrier as memory fence, or not?

From: Simon Thornington (simon.thornington_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-08-21 20:23:38

Hi folks,

Quick question about the use of _ReadWriteBarrier (Win32 MSVC):

According to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms684208(VS.85).aspx ,
this compiler intrinsic doesn't generate any memory fencing instructions at
all, it's strictly a compiler optimization barrier.  I was wondering if
someone had any documentation to contradict this, or if boost is relying on
the new volatile semantics in VC2005 to ensure the fence?

It sure looks like it's being used as if it were a real memory fence, but I
am not sure that's the case.  I'm not an expert though.

Cheers,

Simon.