Building a Lock-Free STM for OCaml - OCaML'23

Explore the development of a lock-free software transactional memory (STM) implementation for OCaml in this conference talk from OCaML'23. Dive into the evolution of the kcas library, originally designed for atomic lock-free multi-word compare-and-set operations, and its transformation into a comprehensive STM solution. Learn about composable transactions, scheduler-friendly modular blocking, and the accompanying library of composable lock-free data structures. Examine key concepts such as KCAS overview, transaction mechanics, location states, blocking and timeouts, performance considerations, and potential hardware support for this innovative approach to concurrent programming in OCaml.