Commit 022d1b35 authored by Paul E. McKenney's avatar Paul E. McKenney

doc: Update rcu_access_pointer() advice in rcu_dereference.rst

This commit updates the rcu_access_pointer() advice, noting that its
return value should not be assigned to a local variable, and also noting
that there is little point in using rcu_access_pointer() within an RCU
read-side critical section.
Signed-off-by: default avatarPaul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>
parent ca8a439e
......@@ -128,10 +128,16 @@ Follow these rules to keep your RCU code working properly:
This sort of comparison occurs frequently when scanning
RCU-protected circular linked lists.
Note that if checks for being within an RCU read-side
critical section are not required and the pointer is never
dereferenced, rcu_access_pointer() should be used in place
of rcu_dereference().
Note that if the pointer comparison is done outside
of an RCU read-side critical section, and the pointer
is never dereferenced, rcu_access_pointer() should be
used in place of rcu_dereference(). In most cases,
it is best to avoid accidental dereferences by testing
the rcu_access_pointer() return value directly, without
assigning it to a variable.
Within an RCU read-side critical section, there is little
reason to use rcu_access_pointer().
- The comparison is against a pointer that references memory
that was initialized "a long time ago." The reason
......
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