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Publication
EuroSys 2008
Paper
Why the grass may not be greener on the other side: A comparison of locking vs. transactional memory
Abstract
The advent of multi-core and multi-threaded processor architectures highlights the need to address the well-known shortcomings of the ubiquitous lock-based synchronization mechanisms. To this end, transactional memory has been viewed by many as a promising alternative to locking. This paper therefore presents a constructive critique of locking and transactional memory: their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.