Difference between "load word" and "load linked word" in MIPS

Question

I am wondering if somebody could explain to me the difference between the LW (load word) and the LL (load linked word) instructions are in MIPS? I cannot seem to find any online sources that distinguish the two from each other and my book does not seem to distinguish them form each other either at the moment. Thanks

Answer 1

The LL instruction is part of the load linked / store conditional instruction pair, which is used for synchronization in multiprocessor environments.

Unless you are specifically writing SMP synchronization code, ignore LL, and use LW in all situations.