pingcap/tidb

Proposal to use atomic.Pointer[T] instead of atomic.Value

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#44,736 opened on Jun 16, 2023

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 (6 comments) (0 reactions) (1 assignee)Go (40,090 stars) (6,186 forks)batch import
good first issuetype/enhancement

Description

Enhancement

Currently, the usage of atomic.Value is prevalent in our codebase. However, I would like to propose using atomic.Pointer[T] instead. The reason being that atomic.Pointer[T] provides a clearer expression of the type, which can help in reducing type conversions.

Therefore, I suggest that we consider using atomic.Pointer[T] in our codebase wherever possible. This change will not only result in better code clarity but also improve the performance of our code.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
go
Domain
backendperformance
Issue type
refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
understanding of Go genericsfamiliarity with sync/atomic package
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40
Research direction
Search the codebase for all occurrences of `atomic.Value` and assess the types used with it. Then replace each with `atomic.Pointer[T]` where T is the concrete type. Ensure that the replacement compiles and does not introduce type safety issues. Refer to the Go documentation for `atomic.Pointer` and existing tests for atomic operations.