I am a bit late but more marvel from Trisha of LMAX, Dissecting the Disruptor: Demystifying Memory Barriers. How can one not love this writing?
Compilers and CPUs can re-order instructions, provided the end result is the same, to try and optimise performance. Inserting a memory barrier tells the CPU and the compiler that what happened before that command needs to stay before that command, and what happens after needs to stay after. All similarities to a trip to Vegas are entirely in your own mind.
And with diagrams.
