Re: [patch] spinlocks: remove 'volatile'

[Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>]

On Fri, 7 Jul 2006, linux-os (Dick Johnson) wrote:
>
> This is a bait and switch argument. The code was displayed to show
> the compiler output, not an example of good coding practice.

NO IT IS NOT.

The whole point of my argument is simple:

> > 	"'volatile' is useless. The things it did 30 years ago are much
> > 	 more complex these days, and need to be tied to much more
> > 	 detailed rules that depend on the actual particular problem,
> > 	 rather than one keyword to the compiler that doesn't actually
> > 	 give enough information for the compiler to do anything useful"

And dammit, if you cannot admit that, then you're not worth discussing 
with.

"volatile" is useless. It's a big hammer in a world where the nails aren't 
nails any more, they are screws, thumb-tacks, and spotwelding.

It still makes a difference for code generation, OF COURSE. But it's the 
wrong thing to use.

		Linus
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