BUILDING
--------
+ ./bootstrap (skip if using tarball)
+ ./configure
make
make install
-
+
+ Hints: Forcing 32-bit build:
+ * CFLAGS="-m32 -g -O2" ./configure
+
+ Forcing 64-bit build:
+ * CFLAGS="-m64 -g -O2" ./configure
+
+ Forcing a 32-bit build with 386 backward compatibility:
+ * CFLAGS="-m32 -g -O2" ./configure --host=i386-pc-linux-gnu
+
+ Forcing a 32-bit build for Sparcv9 (typical for Sparc v9)
+ * CFLAGS="-m32 -Wa,-Av9a -g -O2" ./configure
+
+ARCHITECTURES SUPPORTED
+-----------------------
+
+Currently, x86 (i386, i486, i586, i686), x86 64-bit, PowerPC 32/64, S390, S390x
+and Sparcv9 32/64 are supported. Only tested on Linux so far, but should
+theoretically work on other operating systems.
QUICK START GUIDE
-----------------
* #include <urcu.h>
* Link the application with "-lurcu".
- * This is the preferred version of the library, both in terms of speed
- and flexibility. Requires a signal, typically SIGUSR1. Can be
- overridden with -DSIGURCU by modifying Makefile.build.inc.
-
-Usage of liburcu-mb
-
- * #include <urcu.h>
- * Compile code with "-DURCU_MB"
- * Link with "-lurcu-mb".
- * This version of the urcu library does not need to
- reserve a signal number. URCU_MB uses full memory barriers for
- readers. This eliminates the need for signals but results in slower
- reads.
+ * This is the preferred version of the library, in terms of
+ grace-period detection speed, read-side speed and flexibility.
+ Dynamically detects kernel support for sys_membarrier(). Falls back
+ on urcu-mb scheme if support is not present, which has slower
+ read-side.
Usage of liburcu-qsbr
the threads are not active. It provides the fastest read-side at the
expense of more intrusiveness in the application code.
+Usage of liburcu-mb
+
+ * #include <urcu.h>
+ * Compile any _LGPL_SOURCE code using this library with "-DRCU_MB".
+ * Link with "-lurcu-mb".
+ * This version of the urcu library uses memory barriers on the writer
+ and reader sides. This results in faster grace-period detection, but
+ results in slower reads.
+
+Usage of liburcu-signal
+
+ * #include <urcu-signal.h>
+ * Link the application with "-lurcu-signal".
+ * Version of the library that requires a signal, typically SIGUSR1. Can
+ be overridden with -DSIGRCU by modifying Makefile.build.inc.
+
+Usage of liburcu-bp
+
+ * #include <urcu-bp.h>
+ * Link with "-lurcu-bp".
+ * The BP library flavor stands for "bulletproof". It is specifically
+ designed to help tracing library to hook on applications without
+ requiring to modify these applications. rcu_init(),
+ rcu_register_thread() and rcu_unregister_thread() all become nops.
+ The state is dealt with by the library internally at the expense of
+ read-side and write-side performance.
+
Initialization
Each thread that has reader critical sections (that uses
After, synchronize_rcu() must be called. When it returns, the old
values are not in usage anymore.
+Usage of liburcu-defer
+
+ * #include <urcu-defer.h>
+ * Link with "-lurcu-defer", and also with one of the urcu library
+ (either urcu, urcu-bp, urcu-mb or urcu-qsbr).
+ * Provides defer_rcu() primitive to enqueue delayed callbacks. Queued
+ callbacks are executed in batch periodically after a grace period.
+ Do _not_ use defer_rcu() within a read-side critical section, because
+ it may call synchronize_rcu() if the thread queue is full.
+ * Provides defer_rcu_ratelimit() primitive, which acts just like
+ defer_rcu(), but takes an additional rate limiter callback forcing
+ synchronized callback execution of the limiter returns non-zero.
+ * Requires that rcu_defer_barrier() must be called in library destructor
+ if a library queues callbacks and is expected to be unloaded with
+ dlclose().
+ * Its API is currently experimental. It may change in future library
+ releases.
+
Being careful with signals
The liburcu library uses signals internally. The signal handler is
DEBUG_YIELD is used to add random delays in the code for testing
purposes.
+
+SMP support
+
+ By default the library is configured to use synchronization primitives
+ adequate for SMP systems. On uniprocessor systems, support for SMP
+ systems can be disabled with:
+
+ ./configure --disable-smp-support
+
+ theoretically yielding slightly better performance.