> > All variables are an approximation -- cosmic rays can change the value as > > well, with only a slightly smaller probability than mid-increment time > > slices in a non-test system. > > hmmm... I've seen many fixes needed for several instruction sequences > which did not handle being interrupted (i.e. broken serialization); > unclear how many of the unrepeatable bugs are due to cosmic rays... > as a programmer I wouldn't want to assume that any of them > are... certainly the customers I'm familiar with would not accept that > as an answer :)
Due to mid-increment time slices? All of the race conditions I have seen in practice have been due to I/O operations (not register loads). In any case, I have no doubt that such a condition can occur. I am simply saying that I don't care, and neither will the customer if I have written the code correctly. If I did care, *then* I would use locks. ....Roy
