doc: Add and edit some comments around assumeutxo

Co-authored-by: Ryan Ofsky <ryan@ofsky.org>

4 files changed, 15 insertions, 14 deletions

diff --git a/src/net_processing.cpp b/src/net_processing.cpp
index a8d1553eed..bebbc66444 100644
--- a/src/net_processing.cpp
+++ b/src/net_processing.cpp
@@ -1937,6 +1937,8 @@ void PeerManagerImpl::BlockConnected(
         }
     }
 
+    // The following task can be skipped since we don't maintain a mempool for
+    // the ibd/background chainstate.
     if (role == ChainstateRole::BACKGROUND) {
         return;
     }
diff --git a/src/node/blockstorage.cpp b/src/node/blockstorage.cpp
index 706b62ea9b..6e4e018b4a 100644
--- a/src/node/blockstorage.cpp
+++ b/src/node/blockstorage.cpp
@@ -761,9 +761,10 @@ bool BlockManager::FlushChainstateBlockFile(int tip_height)
 {
     LOCK(cs_LastBlockFile);
     auto& cursor = m_blockfile_cursors[BlockfileTypeForHeight(tip_height)];
+    // If the cursor does not exist, it means an assumeutxo snapshot is loaded,
+    // but no blocks past the snapshot height have been written yet, so there
+    // is no data associated with the chainstate, and it is safe not to flush.
     if (cursor) {
-        // The cursor may not exist after a snapshot has been loaded but before any
-        // blocks have been downloaded.
         return FlushBlockFile(cursor->file_num, /*fFinalize=*/false, /*finalize_undo=*/false);
     }
     return false;
diff --git a/src/validation.cpp b/src/validation.cpp
index 27e1a9785b..07e8b9152b 100644
--- a/src/validation.cpp
+++ b/src/validation.cpp
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@
 #include <numeric>
 #include <optional>
 #include <string>
-#include <utility>
 #include <tuple>
+#include <utility>
 
 using kernel::CCoinsStats;
 using kernel::CoinStatsHashType;
@@ -5367,7 +5367,7 @@ bool ChainstateManager::PopulateAndValidateSnapshot(
     // ActivateSnapshot(), but is done so that we avoid doing the long work of staging
     // a snapshot that isn't actually usable.
     if (WITH_LOCK(::cs_main, return !CBlockIndexWorkComparator()(ActiveTip(), snapshot_start_block))) {
-        LogPrintf("[snapshot] activation failed - height does not exceed active chainstate\n");
+        LogPrintf("[snapshot] activation failed - work does not exceed active chainstate\n");
         return false;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/validation.h b/src/validation.h
index 33d97f0b20..7ce60da634 100644
--- a/src/validation.h
+++ b/src/validation.h
@@ -836,9 +836,10 @@ private:
     //! Once this pointer is set to a corresponding chainstate, it will not
     //! be reset until init.cpp:Shutdown().
     //!
-    //! This is especially important when, e.g., calling ActivateBestChain()
-    //! on all chainstates because we are not able to hold ::cs_main going into
-    //! that call.
+    //! It is important for the pointer to not be deleted until shutdown,
+    //! because cs_main is not always held when the pointer is accessed, for
+    //! example when calling ActivateBestChain, so there's no way you could
+    //! prevent code from using the pointer while deleting it.
     std::unique_ptr<Chainstate> m_ibd_chainstate GUARDED_BY(::cs_main);
 
     //! A chainstate initialized on the basis of a UTXO snapshot. If this is
@@ -847,17 +848,14 @@ private:
     //! Once this pointer is set to a corresponding chainstate, it will not
     //! be reset until init.cpp:Shutdown().
     //!
-    //! This is especially important when, e.g., calling ActivateBestChain()
-    //! on all chainstates because we are not able to hold ::cs_main going into
-    //! that call.
+    //! It is important for the pointer to not be deleted until shutdown,
+    //! because cs_main is not always held when the pointer is accessed, for
+    //! example when calling ActivateBestChain, so there's no way you could
+    //! prevent code from using the pointer while deleting it.
     std::unique_ptr<Chainstate> m_snapshot_chainstate GUARDED_BY(::cs_main);
 
     //! Points to either the ibd or snapshot chainstate; indicates our
     //! most-work chain.
-    //!
-    //! This is especially important when, e.g., calling ActivateBestChain()
-    //! on all chainstates because we are not able to hold ::cs_main going into
-    //! that call.
     Chainstate* m_active_chainstate GUARDED_BY(::cs_main) {nullptr};
 
     CBlockIndex* m_best_invalid GUARDED_BY(::cs_main){nullptr};