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Message-ID: <7001154.REmHhS1LlQ@merkaba> Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2017 23:02:41 +0100 From: Martin Steigerwald <martin@...htvoll.de> To: Matthew Wilcox <willy@...radead.org> Cc: linux-fsdevel@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, Matthew Wilcox <mawilcox@...rosoft.com> Subject: Re: XArray documentation Matthew Wilcox - 24.11.17, 22:18: > On Fri, Nov 24, 2017 at 07:01:31PM +0100, Martin Steigerwald wrote: > > > The XArray is an abstract data type which behaves like an infinitely > > > large array of pointers. The index into the array is an unsigned long. > > > A freshly-initialised XArray contains a NULL pointer at every index. > > > > Yes, I think this is clearer already. > > > > Maybe with a few sentences on "Why does the kernel provide this?", "Where > > is it used?" (if already known), "What use case is it suitable for – if I > > want to implement something into the kernel (or in user space?) ?" and > > probably "How does it differ from user data structures the kernel > > provides?" > > OK, I think this is getting more useful. Here's what I currently have: > > Overview > ======== > > The XArray is an abstract data type which behaves like a very large array > of pointers. It meets many of the same needs as a hash or a conventional > resizable array. Unlike a hash, it allows you to sensibly go to the > next or previous entry in a cache-efficient manner. In contrast to > a resizable array, there is no need for copying data or changing MMU > mappings in order to grow the array. It is more memory-efficient, > parallelisable and cache friendly than a doubly-linked list. It takes > advantage of RCU to perform lookups without locking. I like this. I bet I may not be able help much further with it other than to possibly proofread it tomorrow. Thank you for considering my suggestion. -- Martin
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