[Boost-users] lock free / wait free

From: jono (jp_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-02-18 17:31:38

hi all,

i was wondering if there are any formal initiatives in the boost 
community to provide 'lock free' data structures using CAS (compare and 
swap)?

in particular, this looks promising...

"Instead of providing a separate atomic smart pointer, we propose 
additions to  shared_ptr's interface to address this use case. A typical 
example scenario — a "lock-free" reader/writer pattern — that takes 
advantage of this functionality is outlined below:..."
[http://www.open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG21/docs/papers/2007/n2297.html#atomic]

is this likely to happen this year?  i've seen some other discussion, 
such as 
http://www.nabble.com/Lock-free-atomic_shared_ptr%3CT%3E--td14958758.html

i've used the Microsoft interlocked API's in a past (audio processing) 
project, but i'm developing a video pipeline for Linux/Win32 and it 
would be a huge 'boost' to be able to eliminate some locking and have 
deterministic real time.  if that were introduced via the shared_ptr 
interface, i'd be over the moon.

unfortunately, i don't have the skills to really contribute to this 
initiative, but i wld like to add my voice to those who might find a use 
for it!

cheers,
jono