On parallel snapshot isolation and release/acquire consistency

Azalea Raad*, Ori Lahav, Viktor Vafeiadis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Parallel snapshot isolation (PSI) is a standard transactional consistency model used in databases and distributed systems. We argue that PSI is also a useful formal model for software transactional memory (STM) as it has certain advantages over other consistency models. However, the formal PSI definition is given declaratively by acyclicity axioms, which most programmers find hard to understand and reason about. To address this, we develop a simple lock-based reference implementation for PSI built on top of the release-acquire memory model, a well-behaved subset of the C/C++11 memory model. We prove that our implementation is sound and complete against its higher-level declarative specification. We further consider an extension of PSI allowing transactional and non-transactional code to interact, and provide a sound and complete reference implementation for the more general setting. Supporting this interaction is necessary for adopting a transactional model in programming languages.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProgramming Languages and Systems - 27th European Symposium on Programming, ESOP 2018, Held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2018, Proceedings
EditorsAmal Ahmed
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages940-967
Number of pages28
ISBN (Print)9783319898834
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018
Event27th European Symposium on Programming, ESOP 2018 Held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2018 - Thessaloniki, Greece
Duration: 14 Apr 201820 Apr 2018

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10801 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference27th European Symposium on Programming, ESOP 2018 Held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2018
Country/TerritoryGreece
CityThessaloniki
Period14/04/1820/04/18

Funding

FundersFunder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Blavatnik Family Foundation
European Research Council
Horizon 2020683289

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