Memory Model

Memory Model

Purpose

Guide agents through C++ and Rust memory models: memory orderings, the happens-before relation, atomic operations, fences, and practical patterns for lock-free data structures.

Triggers

• "What is the C++ memory model?"
• "What memory order should I use for my atomic operation?"
• "What is the difference between acquire-release and seq_cst?"
• "How do I use std::atomic in C++?"
• "What is acquire/release in Rust atomics?"
• "How do I implement a lock-free queue?"

Workflow

1. Memory ordering overview

Modern CPUs and compilers reorder operations for performance. The memory model specifies what reorderings are allowed and how synchronisation is achieved.

Ordering strength (weakest to strongest):
Relaxed < Release/Acquire < AcqRel < SeqCst

Stronger ordering = more synchronization = more correct, but slower
Weaker ordering  = fewer barriers = faster, but needs careful analysis

2. Memory orderings

3. C++ std::atomic

#include <atomic>
#include <thread>

std::atomic<int> counter{0};
std::atomic<bool> ready{false};

// Producer thread
void producer() {
    data = 42;                              // (1) write data
    ready.store(true, std::memory_order_release);  // (2) signal
}

// Consumer thread
void consumer() {
    while (!ready.load(std::memory_order_acquire));  // (3) wait
    assert(data == 42);                              // (4) guaranteed to see (1)
}

Acquire-release guarantees: if thread A does a release store to X, and thread B does an acquire load that sees A's value, then all writes by A before the release are visible to B after the acquire.

4. Choosing the right ordering

Use case?
├── Counter (just needs atomicity, order irrelevant)    → Relaxed
├── Reference counting (decrement + final check)        → AcqRel (dec), Acquire (load 0 check)
├── Publish data from one thread to another             → Release (store), Acquire (load)
├── Mutual exclusion / mutex implementation             → AcqRel / SeqCst
├── Lock-free queue multiple producers/consumers        → SeqCst (safest to start)
└── Sequence number check (simple flag)                 → Release + Acquire

5. Common patterns

// Pattern 1: Spinlock
class Spinlock {
    std::atomic_flag flag = ATOMIC_FLAG_INIT;
public:
    void lock() {
        while (flag.test_and_set(std::memory_order_acquire))
            ; // spin
    }
    void unlock() {
        flag.clear(std::memory_order_release);
    }
};

// Pattern 2: Reference counting
class RefCounted {
    std::atomic<int> refcount{1};
public:
    void addref() {
        refcount.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);  // only need atomicity
    }
    void release() {
        if (refcount.fetch_sub(1, std::memory_order_acq_rel) == 1) {
            // AcqRel ensures we see all writes from other releasers
            delete this;
        }
    }
};

// Pattern 3: One-time initialisation
class LazyInit {
    std::atomic<void*> ptr{nullptr};
    std::mutex mtx;
public:
    void* get() {
        void* p = ptr.load(std::memory_order_acquire);
        if (p == nullptr) {
            std::lock_guard lock(mtx);
            p = ptr.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
            if (p == nullptr) {
                p = create();
                ptr.store(p, std::memory_order_release);
            }
        }
        return p;
    }
};

6. Rust atomics

use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, AtomicUsize, Ordering};
use std::sync::Arc;

// Simple counter
let counter = Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(0));

// Increment
counter.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);

// Read
let val = counter.load(Ordering::Relaxed);

// Publish/subscribe pattern
static READY: AtomicBool = AtomicBool::new(false);

// Publisher thread
unsafe { DATA = 42; }  // Write data
READY.store(true, Ordering::Release);  // Signal

// Subscriber thread
while !READY.load(Ordering::Acquire) {}
let d = unsafe { DATA };  // Safe: guaranteed to see publisher's write

7. Fences

Fences provide ordering without an atomic operation on a specific variable:

// C++ fence — equivalent to a global memory barrier
std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_acquire);  // Acquire fence
std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_release);  // Release fence

// Typical use: multiple atomic writes then one fence
relaxed_atomic_a.store(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
relaxed_atomic_b.store(2, std::memory_order_relaxed);
std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_release);  // barrier for all above
sentinel.store(true, std::memory_order_relaxed);

8. Common mistakes

For memory ordering rules and happens-before reference, see references/cpp-memory-ordering.md.

Related skills

• Use skills/runtimes/sanitizers — TSan detects data races involving non-atomic accesses
• Use skills/rust/rust-sanitizers-miri for detecting Rust memory ordering violations with Miri
• Use skills/low-level-programming/assembly-x86 to understand generated fence instructions
• Use skills/debuggers/gdb for debugging concurrent programs with thread inspection