John Petzinger, Re: "Please admit that you were simply WRONG when you implied that a cache-line "invalidation" ALWAYS results in that cacheline being FLUSHED and WRITTEN INTO MEMORY. It just AIN'T SO."
Forget to turn the CAPS LOCK off? If you claim to know what I *implied*, then you are making dense ASSumptions, just like your friend Ali. Get it right. You quoted me right below, so why do you lie like you do above?
"Flushing" and "invalidating" are the same thing, as long as a line is owned by a caching device (processor or I/O hub), but is not in modified state. If the line has been modified, it will get written back to main memory.
Don't mince the words. Flushing has been defined in the dictionary as forcing temporarily buffered data to be written to more permanent memory, and if data is getting written back because it has been modified, then the state of the cache line *still* gets marked invalidated. Therefore, I don't see a huge difference if the data has not been modified, and does not get written back, because as you so obtusely point out, it doesn't need to if the data hasn't been changed. Has the snooping process changed at all? Does the cache line no longer need to be forced invalid? No, and no. As I see it, the line has been flushed from cache, since there is no longer a reference to it.
I argue with Ali because he nit-picks people's wording, and makes a big deal about it, and all the while, he misses the real point of the argument. You look like you're doing the same thing with the way I justify Ace's use of the word "flush". If all you or Ali wanted to say was that Ace's misused the word from the generally accepted definition, then that's all you had to say.
Instead, Ali goes on a long diatribe about unprofessional journalism, and challenges my career experience when I attempt to defend it. I've already said that Ace's misses a few key points, but I don't believe it makes a difference to their target audience. That's my contribution, and if you don't agree, then fine - take it or leave it, as anyone is welcome to do on this forum. But if you want to change the argument into the proper definition of the word "flush", and insult me in the process, then I don't care to continue.
As I suggested to your bud, consider taking an anger management class, and learn some manners besides. I don't deserve to have my comments attacked the way you have done.
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