[$] An introduction to lockless algorithms
Lockless algorithms are of interest for the Linux kernel when traditional
locking primitives either cannot be used or are not performant enough.
For this reason they come up every now and then on LWN; one of the last
mentions, which prompted me to write this article series, was last July.
Topics that arise even more frequently are read-copy-update (RCU — these
articles from 2007 are still highly relevant), reference counting, and
ways of wrapping lockless primitives into higher-level,
more easily understood APIs. These articles will delve into the concepts
behind lockless algorithms and how they are used in the kernel.