Subject: Re: "debug_invalidate_system_caches_always" is too long
To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>, pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org
References: <1374320.1625430433@sss.pgh.pa.us>
From: Peter Eisentraut <peter.eisentraut@enterprisedb.com>
Message-ID: <a813b3cc-36e6-8f58-273d-ed74be3086b3@enterprisedb.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2021 10:37:15 +0200
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On 04.07.21 22:27, Tom Lane wrote:
> I do agree with the "debug_" prefix given that it's now visible to
> users.  However, it doesn't seem that hard to save some space in
> the rest of the name.  The word "system" is adding nothing of value,
> and the word "always" seems rather confusing --- if it does
> something "always", why is there more than one level?  So a simple
> proposal is to rename it to "debug_invalidate_caches".

I think we can definitely drop the "always".  Not so much the "system", 
since there are other caches, but it would be ok if we want it shorter.

> However, I think we should also give serious consideration to
> "debug_clobber_cache" or "debug_clobber_cache_always" for continuity
> with past practice (though it still feels like "always" is a good
> word to lose now).  "debug_clobber_caches" is another reasonable
> variant.

The clobbering doesn't actually happen unless you turn on 
CLOBBER_FREED_MEMORY, so it would be good to keep that separate.