1. A method, in a data processing system, for performing a remote update, the method comprising: detecting, by a remote update programming idiom accelerator of the data processing system, a complex remote update programming idiom in an instruction sequence of a thread running on a processing unit, wherein the complex remote update programming idiom includes a read operation for reading data from a storage location at a remote node, a sequence of instructions for performing an update operation on the data to form result data, and a write operation for writing the result data to the storage location at the remote node; determining, by the remote update programming idiom accelerator, whether the sequence of instructions is longer than an instruction size threshold; and responsive to a determination that the sequence of instructions is not longer than the instruction size threshold, transmitting the complex remote update programming idiom from the remote update programming idiom accelerator to the remote node to perform the update operation on the data at the remote node.