Atomic

Submit New Article

Last Modified On :   May 6, 2008 7:34 PM PDT
Rate
 




Atomic has slightly different meanings in different contexts. An atomic operation at the hardware level is uninterruptible, for example load and store, or atomic test-and-set instructions. In the database world, an atomic operation (or transaction) is one that appears to execute completely or not at all. In parallel programming, an atomic operation is one for which sufficient synchronization has been provided that it cannot be interfered with by other units of execution (UEs) or engines (such as DMA, etc.). Atomic operations also must be guaranteed to terminate (e.g. no infinite loops).