Synchronization Summarization

This chapter applied the concepts and theories of the last chapter to help you understand the actual methods provided by the Linux kernel for enforcing synchronization and concurrency. We started with the simplest method of ensuring synchronization, atomic operations. We then looked at spin locks, the most common lock in the kernel, which provide a lightweight single-holder lock that busy waits while contended. We also discussed semaphores, a sleeping lock, and less common more specialized locking primitives such as completion variables and seq locks. We poked fun at the BKL, looked at preemption disabling, and tackled barriers. It has been a wild ride.

Armed with this chapter's arsenal of synchronization methods, you can now write kernel code that prevents race conditions and ensures the desired synchronization, with luck picking the best tool for the job.