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Document number: N3999

Date: 2014-05-23

Standard Wording for Transactional Memory Support for C++

by Victor Luchangco, Jens Maurer, Michael Wong, et al.

Excerpt:

1 Introduction

Transactional memory supports a programming style that is intended to facilitate parallel execution with a comparatively gentle learning curve. This document describes a proposal developed by SG5 to introduce transactional constructs into C++ as a Technical Specification.

This proposal is based in part on the Draft Specification for Transactional Constructs in C++ (Version 1.1) published by the Transactional Memory Specification Drafting Group in February 2012. It represents a pragmatic basic set of features, and omits or simplifies a number of controversial or complicated features from the Draft Specification. Our goal has been to focus SG5’s efforts towards a basic set of features that is useful and can support progress towards possible inclusion in the C++ standard.

In addition to a description of the proposal, this document contains a summary of the issues discussed Section 1.1 as well as Standard Wording for Core Section 8. Library wording is handled in a separate document.

1.1 Changes in previous revisions

N3999 (this paper): From N3919, we updated with discussion results from EWG, and the TM Evening Session of Issaquah. We considered the memory model effect from Chandler on whether a transaction that does not access any shared data induces any happens-before arcs – and in particular whether transactions that are provably thread-local must incur synchronization costs. We describe the result of that discussion in Section 7.1.

We also added Core StandardWording to support TM TS in preparation for the Draft Document. Core Standard Wording will be reviewed in a separate telecon call on June 2, and likely again at Rapperswil. Library wording is posted in N4000 and will be reviewed in Rapperswil.