Merge branches 'slab/documentation', 'slab/fixes', 'slob/cleanups' and 'slub/fixes...

[sfrench/cifs-2.6.git] / mm / util.c

diff --git a/mm/util.c b/mm/util.c
index abc65aa7cdfc7bcfc76817afe2451cce7a4ece3e..7c35ad95f92756d1473bbc2ae658f5bb27de2ca9 100644 (file)
--- a/mm/util.c
+++ b/mm/util.c
@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(krealloc);
  *
  * The memory of the object @p points to is zeroed before freed.
  * If @p is %NULL, kzfree() does nothing.
+ *
+ * Note: this function zeroes the whole allocated buffer which can be a good
+ * deal bigger than the requested buffer size passed to kmalloc(). So be
+ * careful when using this function in performance sensitive code.
  */
 void kzfree(const void *p)
 {
@@ -233,13 +237,21 @@ void arch_pick_mmap_layout(struct mm_struct *mm)
  * @pages:     array that receives pointers to the pages pinned.
  *             Should be at least nr_pages long.
  *
- * Attempt to pin user pages in memory without taking mm->mmap_sem.
- * If not successful, it will fall back to taking the lock and
- * calling get_user_pages().
- *
  * Returns number of pages pinned. This may be fewer than the number
  * requested. If nr_pages is 0 or negative, returns 0. If no pages
  * were pinned, returns -errno.
+ *
+ * get_user_pages_fast provides equivalent functionality to get_user_pages,
+ * operating on current and current->mm, with force=0 and vma=NULL. However
+ * unlike get_user_pages, it must be called without mmap_sem held.
+ *
+ * get_user_pages_fast may take mmap_sem and page table locks, so no
+ * assumptions can be made about lack of locking. get_user_pages_fast is to be
+ * implemented in a way that is advantageous (vs get_user_pages()) when the
+ * user memory area is already faulted in and present in ptes. However if the
+ * pages have to be faulted in, it may turn out to be slightly slower so
+ * callers need to carefully consider what to use. On many architectures,
+ * get_user_pages_fast simply falls back to get_user_pages.
  */
 int __attribute__((weak)) get_user_pages_fast(unsigned long start,
                                int nr_pages, int write, struct page **pages)