Re: [PATCH 0/24] make atomic_read() behave consistently across all architectures

On Wed, Aug 15, 2007 at 10:52:53PM +0200, Segher Boessenkool wrote:

quoted

quoted

I think this was just terminology confusion here again. Isn't "any 
code
that it cannot currently see" the same as "another compilation unit",
and wouldn't the "compilation unit" itself expand if we ask gcc to
compile more than one unit at once? Or is there some more specific
"definition" for "compilation unit" (in gcc lingo, possibly?)

This is indeed my understanding -- "compilation unit" is whatever the
compiler looks at in one go.  I have heard the word "module" used for
the minimal compilation unit covering a single .c file and everything
that it #includes, but there might be a better name for this.

Yes, that's what's called "compilation unit" :-)

[/me double checks]

Erm, the C standard actually calls it "translation unit".

To be exact, to avoid any more confusion:

5.1.1.1/1:
A C program need not all be translated at the same time. The
text of the program is kept in units called source files, (or
preprocessing files) in this International Standard. A source
file together with all the headers and source files included
via the preprocessing directive #include is known as a
preprocessing translation unit. After preprocessing, a
preprocessing translation unit is called a translation unit.

I am OK with "translation" and "compilation" being near-synonyms.  ;-)

						Thanx, Paul