mirror of https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
From: Daroc Alden <daroc@lwn.net>
To: corbet@lwn.net, Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>,
	Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>, Will Deacon <will@kernel.org>,
	Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@gmail.com>,
	Waiman Long <longman@redhat.com>,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org (open list:LOCKING PRIMITIVES)
Cc: Daroc Alden <daroc@lwn.net>
Subject: [PATCH] lock: Add doc comments for spin_lock_irq()
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:53:58 -0400	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20251010215403.743811-1-daroc@lwn.net> (raw)

The commonly used spin_lock_irq(), spin_lock_irqsave(),
spin_unlock_irq(), and spin_unlock_irqrestore() functions do not
currently have any documentation; this commit adds kerneldoc comments
to these four functions describing when their behavior and when they are
appropriate to use.

Signed-off-by: Daroc Alden <daroc@lwn.net>
---
 include/linux/spinlock.h | 53 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 53 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/linux/spinlock.h b/include/linux/spinlock.h
index d3561c4a080e..35bd55605319 100644
--- a/include/linux/spinlock.h
+++ b/include/linux/spinlock.h
@@ -371,11 +371,47 @@ do {									\
 	raw_spin_lock_nest_lock(spinlock_check(lock), nest_lock);	\
 } while (0)
 
+/**
+ * spin_lock_irq() - Lock a spinlock while disabling interrupts.
+ * @lock: The spinlock that will be locked.
+ *
+ * When a spinlock is shared by code running in interrupt context and process
+ * context, it is important to ensure that interrupts are disabled while the
+ * lock is held. Otherwise, an interrupt handler might attempt to take the lock
+ * while it is already held, leading to a deadlock.
+ *
+ * This function unconditionally disables interrupts on the local CPU, and then
+ * locks the provided spinlock. It is suitable for use in contexts where
+ * interrupts are known to be enabled — because the corresponding unlock
+ * function, spin_unlock_irq(), unconditionally enables interrupts.
+ *
+ * When code can be called with interrupts either enabled or disabled, prefer
+ * spin_lock_irqsave(), which preserves the current state so that it can be
+ * restored when the spinlock is released.
+ */
 static __always_inline void spin_lock_irq(spinlock_t *lock)
 {
 	raw_spin_lock_irq(&lock->rlock);
 }
 
+/**
+ * spin_lock_irqsave() - Lock a lock, disable interrupts, and save current state.
+ * @lock: The spinlock that will be locked.
+ * @flags: An unsigned long to store the current interrupt state.
+ *
+ * When a spinlock is shared by code running in interrupt context and process
+ * context, it is important to ensure that interrupts are disabled while the
+ * lock is held. Otherwise, an interrupt handler might attempt to take the lock
+ * while it is already held, leading to a deadlock.
+ *
+ * This function disables interrupts on the local CPU if they are enabled, and
+ * then locks the provided spinlock. The previous state of interrupts (enabled
+ * or disabled) is saved in the @flags argument so that it can be restored by
+ * the corresponding call to spin_unlock_irqrestore().
+ *
+ * When code will only be run with interrupts enabled, using spin_lock_irq() can
+ * avoid the need to create a local variable to save the state.
+ */
 #define spin_lock_irqsave(lock, flags)				\
 do {								\
 	raw_spin_lock_irqsave(spinlock_check(lock), flags);	\
@@ -396,11 +432,28 @@ static __always_inline void spin_unlock_bh(spinlock_t *lock)
 	raw_spin_unlock_bh(&lock->rlock);
 }
 
+/**
+ * spin_unlock_irq() - Unlock a spinlock and enable interrupts.
+ * @lock: The spinlock that will be unlocked.
+ *
+ * This function unlocks the provided lock, and then unconditionally enables
+ * interrupts on the current CPU. It should typically correspond to a previous
+ * call to spin_lock_irq().
+ */
 static __always_inline void spin_unlock_irq(spinlock_t *lock)
 {
 	raw_spin_unlock_irq(&lock->rlock);
 }
 
+/**
+ * spin_unlock_irqrestore() - Unlock a spinlock and restore interrupt state.
+ * @lock: The spinlock that will be unlocked.
+ * @flags: The previously saved interrupt state to restore.
+ *
+ * This function unlocks the provided lock, and then restores interrupts to
+ * whichever state (enabled or disabled) is indicated by @flags. @flags should
+ * come from a previous call to spin_lock_irqsave().
+ */
 static __always_inline void spin_unlock_irqrestore(spinlock_t *lock, unsigned long flags)
 {
 	raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore(&lock->rlock, flags);
-- 
2.51.0


             reply	other threads:[~2025-10-10 21:54 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 6+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2025-10-10 21:53 Daroc Alden [this message]
2025-10-11  3:15 ` Waiman Long
2025-10-11 18:28   ` Daroc Alden
2025-10-12  2:31     ` Waiman Long
2025-10-12 13:48       ` Daroc Alden
2025-10-12 23:17         ` Waiman Long

Reply instructions:

You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:

* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
  and reply-to-all from there: mbox

  Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style

* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
  switches of git-send-email(1):

  git send-email \
    --in-reply-to=20251010215403.743811-1-daroc@lwn.net \
    --to=daroc@lwn.net \
    --cc=boqun.feng@gmail.com \
    --cc=corbet@lwn.net \
    --cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=longman@redhat.com \
    --cc=mingo@redhat.com \
    --cc=peterz@infradead.org \
    --cc=will@kernel.org \
    /path/to/YOUR_REPLY

  https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html

* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
  via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox

all inboxes | Powered by JetHome®