Re:How fast can you allocate a large block of memory in C++?
by adrianmonk on Thursday January 16, 2020 @02:19PM
(#22067859)
Very minor nitpick, but IMHO, this article creates a little unnecessary confusion by insisting upon a particular meaning of the word "allocate" without being very clear it's doing that.
That is, it uses "allocate" to mean "make ready for immediate use with no further (lazy) processing". Another perfectly reasonable definition would be "guarantee to be possible to use".
The distinction would arise on, for example, a system which doesn't over-commit memory but also doesn't fault pages in upon allocation. On such a system, allocation might give you a rock solid guarantee that you can write to (and read from) that memory but it wouldn't give you any guarantee about how fast or slow that would happen on initial access.
Personally, I prefer the second definition, but that's not really the point. The point is to be clear and avoid confusion.
That is, it uses "allocate" to mean "make ready for immediate use with no further (lazy) processing". Another perfectly reasonable definition would be "guarantee to be possible to use".
The distinction would arise on, for example, a system which doesn't over-commit memory but also doesn't fault pages in upon allocation. On such a system, allocation might give you a rock solid guarantee that you can write to (and read from) that memory but it wouldn't give you any guarantee about how fast or slow that would happen on initial access.
Personally, I prefer the second definition, but that's not really the point. The point is to be clear and avoid confusion.