RE: JavaMemoryModel: A different slant with reference leakage

From: Sylvia Else (sylviae@optushome.com.au)
Date: Mon Jan 19 2004 - 20:28:36 EST


At 11:33 AM 20/01/2004, David Holmes wrote:
> From a practical stand-point I don't expect programmers to be trying
>to perform detailed analysis of the dynamic properties of their
>programs, such that the mind-boggling issues of causality come into
>play.

I certainly agree with that, but it is far from clear that a developer
would be aware that they were playing in this arena.

>In the context of the given example, simple code inspection
>shows what values a variable may hold over time.

A read of a variable can yield any value permitted by the memory model. A
"simple code inspection" involves reasoning which may or may not be valid
within the context of the model. How is a developer to determine whether
their notion of simplicity is a subset of the model?

Some of these things may seem like just plain common sense, but that's been
found wanting many times before.

Sylvia.

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