NAME¶

std::atomic_compare_exchange_weak,std::atomic_compare_exchange_strong, - std::atomic_compare_exchange_weak,std::atomic_compare_exchange_strong,

Synopsis¶

Defined in header <atomic>
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_weak
( std::atomic<T>* obj, typename std::atomic<T>::value_type* (1) (since C++11)
expected,

typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired ) noexcept;
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_weak
( volatile std::atomic<T>* obj, (2) (since C++11)
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type* expected,

typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired ) noexcept;
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_strong
( std::atomic<T>* obj, typename std::atomic<T>::value_type* (3) (since C++11)
expected,

typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired ) noexcept;
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_strong
( volatile std::atomic<T>* obj, (4) (since C++11)
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type* expected,

typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired ) noexcept;
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_weak_explicit
( std::atomic<T>* obj, typename std::atomic<T>::value_type*
expected, (5) (since C++11)
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired,

std::memory_order success, std::memory_order failure )
noexcept;
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_weak_explicit
( volatile std::atomic<T>* obj,
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type* expected, (6) (since C++11)
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired,

std::memory_order success, std::memory_order failure )
noexcept;
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_strong_explicit
( std::atomic<T>* obj, typename std::atomic<T>::value_type*
expected, (7) (since C++11)
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired,

std::memory_order success, std::memory_order failure )
noexcept;
template< class T >

bool atomic_compare_exchange_strong_explicit
( volatile std::atomic<T>* obj,
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type* expected, (8) (since C++11)
typename std::atomic<T>::value_type desired,

std::memory_order success, std::memory_order failure )
noexcept;

Atomically compares the
object representation
(until C++20)
value representation
(since C++20) of the object pointed to by obj with that of the object pointed to by
expected, and if those are bitwise-equal, replaces the former with desired (performs
read-modify-write operation). Otherwise, loads the actual value pointed to by obj
into *expected (performs load operation).

Overloads Memory model for
read‑modify‑write operation load operation
(1-4) std::memory_order_seq_cst std::memory_order_seq_cst
(5-8) success failure

These functions are defined in terms of member functions of std::atomic:

1,2) obj->compare_exchange_weak(*expected, desired)
3,4) obj->compare_exchange_strong(*expected, desired)
5,6) obj->compare_exchange_weak(*expected, desired, success, failure)
7,8) obj->compare_exchange_strong(*expected, desired, success, failure)

If failure
is stronger than success or
(until C++17) is one of std::memory_order_release and std::memory_order_acq_rel, the
behavior is undefined.

Parameters¶

obj - pointer to the atomic object to test and modify
expected - pointer to the value expected to be found in the atomic object
desired - the value to store in the atomic object if it is as expected
success - the memory synchronization ordering for the read-modify-write operation
if the comparison succeeds
failure - the memory synchronization ordering for the load operation if the
comparison fails

Return value¶

The result of the comparison: true if *obj was equal to *expected, false otherwise.

Notes¶

std::atomic_compare_exchange_weak and std::atomic_compare_exchange_weak_explicit
(the weak versions) are allowed to fail spuriously, that is, act as if *obj !=
*expected even if they are equal. When a compare-and-exchange is in a loop, they
will yield better performance on some platforms.

When a weak compare-and-exchange would require a loop and a strong one would not,
the strong one is preferable unless the object representation of T may include
padding bits,
(until C++20) trap bits, or offers multiple object representations for the same
value (e.g. floating-point NaN). In those cases, weak compare-and-exchange typically
works because it quickly converges on some stable object representation.

For a union with bits that participate in the value representations of some members
but not the others, compare-and-exchange might always fail because such padding bits
have indeterminate values when they do not participate in the value representation
of the active member.

Padding bits that never participate in an object's value (since C++20)
representation are ignored.

Example¶

Compare and exchange operations are often used as basic building blocks of lockfree
data structures.

// Run this code

#include <atomic>

template<class T>
struct node
{
T data;
node* next;
node(const T& data) : data(data), next(nullptr) {}
};

template<class T>
class stack
{
std::atomic<node<T>*> head;
public:
void push(const T& data)
{
node<T>* new_node = new node<T>(data);

// put the current value of head into new_node->next
new_node->next = head.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);

// now make new_node the new head, but if the head
// is no longer what's stored in new_node->next
// (some other thread must have inserted a node just now)
// then put that new head into new_node->next and try again
while (!std::atomic_compare_exchange_weak_explicit(
&head, &new_node->next, new_node,
std::memory_order_release, std::memory_order_relaxed))
; // the body of the loop is empty
// note: the above loop is not thread-safe in at least
// GCC prior to 4.8.3 (bug 60272), clang prior to 2014-05-05 (bug 18899)
// MSVC prior to 2014-03-17 (bug 819819). See member function version for workaround
}
};

int main()
{
stack<int> s;
s.push(1);
s.push(2);
s.push(3);
}

Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to
previously published C++ standards.

DR Applied to Behavior as published Correct behavior
P0558R1 C++11 exact type match was required because T is only deduced
T was deduced from multiple arguments from obj

See also¶

atomically compares the value of the atomic object with
compare_exchange_weak non-atomic argument and performs atomic exchange if equal
compare_exchange_strong or atomic load if not
(public member function of std::atomic<T>)
atomic_exchange atomically replaces the value of the atomic object with
atomic_exchange_explicit non-atomic argument and returns the old value of the atomic
(C++11) (function template)
(C++11)

std::atomic_compare_exchange_weak(std::shared_ptr) specializes atomic operations
std::atomic_compare_exchange_strong(std::shared_ptr) for std::shared_ptr
(deprecated in C++20) (function template)
(removed in C++26)
C documentation for
atomic_compare_exchange,
atomic_compare_exchange_explicit