One use for reference-count biases...

One use for reference-count biases...

Hmmmm... I was thinking more in terms of something like the following:

preempt_disable();
if (per_cpu_counter > 0)
        per_cpu_counter++;
else
        do some costly global-lock-and-variable thing
preempt_enable();


But it has been a good ten years since I messed with this, so I should take another look at it.

In any case, I very much agree with your overall premise that higher-level primitives are a very great improvement over continually re-inventing the wheel, most especially for those wheels with a strong history of being re-invented badly!!!