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Revision 1.57 by root, Thu Apr 24 03:19:28 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.70 by root, Fri Apr 25 07:25:44 2008 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops
4 4
5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops
6 6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 8
9 use AnyEvent; 9 use AnyEvent;
10 10
… …
78 78
79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
80module. 80module.
81 81
82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of 83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84the following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>,
85L<EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>. The first one 85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
86found is used. If none are found, the module tries to load these modules 86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
87(excluding Event::Lib and Qt) in the order given. The first one that can 87to load these modules (excluding Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
88be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 89be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
89found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not 90found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
90very efficient, but should work everywhere. 91very efficient, but should work everywhere.
91 92
92Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 93Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
… …
207 208
208There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 209There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
209in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 210in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
210o'clock"). 211o'clock").
211 212
212While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they use 213While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
213absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock "jumps", 214use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
214for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from the wrong 2014-01-01 to 215"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
2152008-01-01, a watcher that you created to fire "after" a second might actually take 216the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
216six years to finally fire. 217fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire.
217 218
218AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 219AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
219about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer) and 220about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
220absolute (ev_periodic) timers. 221on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
222timers.
221 223
222AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 224AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
223AnyEvent API. 225AnyEvent API.
224 226
225=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 227=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
226 228
227You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 229You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
228I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 230I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to
229be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 231be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
230 232
231Multiple signals occurances can be clumped together into one callback 233Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback
232invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 234invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means
233that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 235that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
234but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 236but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
235 237
236The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 238The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
… …
361 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice. 363 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
362 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice. 364 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
363 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable. 365 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
364 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs). 366 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
365 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse. 367 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
368 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
369
370There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
371watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
372POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
373second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
374AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
375it's adaptor.
376
377AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
378autodetecting them.
366 379
367=item AnyEvent::detect 380=item AnyEvent::detect
368 381
369Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 382Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
370if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 383if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
… …
421no warnings; 434no warnings;
422use strict; 435use strict;
423 436
424use Carp; 437use Carp;
425 438
426our $VERSION = '3.12'; 439our $VERSION = '3.3';
427our $MODEL; 440our $MODEL;
428 441
429our $AUTOLOAD; 442our $AUTOLOAD;
430our @ISA; 443our @ISA;
431 444
… …
438 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::], 451 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
439 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 452 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::],
440 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 453 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
441 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 454 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::],
442 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 455 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::],
456 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
457 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
443 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 458 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
444); 459 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
445my @models_detect = ( 460 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
446 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 461 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
447 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy 462 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
448); 463);
449 464
450our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY); 465our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY);
451 466
452sub detect() { 467sub detect() {
… …
456 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 471 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
457 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1"; 472 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
458 if (eval "require $model") { 473 if (eval "require $model") {
459 $MODEL = $model; 474 $MODEL = $model;
460 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 475 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
476 } else {
477 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
461 } 478 }
462 } 479 }
463 480
464 # check for already loaded models 481 # check for already loaded models
465 unless ($MODEL) { 482 unless ($MODEL) {
466 for (@REGISTRY, @models, @models_detect) { 483 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
467 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 484 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
468 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 485 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
469 if (eval "require $model") { 486 if (eval "require $model") {
470 $MODEL = $model; 487 $MODEL = $model;
471 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 488 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
… …
658 675
659=over 4 676=over 4
660 677
661=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> 678=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
662 679
680By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
681conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
682talkative.
683
684When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
685conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
686C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
687
663When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event 688When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
664model it chooses. 689model it chooses.
665 690
666=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL> 691=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
667 692
… …
835 $quit->broadcast; 860 $quit->broadcast;
836 }); 861 });
837 862
838 $quit->wait; 863 $quit->wait;
839 864
865
866=head1 BENCHMARK
867
868To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
869over the event loops directly, here is a benchmark of various supported
870event models natively and with anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of
871timers (with a zero timeout) and io watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to
872become writable, which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys
873them again.
874
875=head2 Explanation of the columns
876
877I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
878different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
879loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable
880and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib
881would probably take thousands of years if asked to process the same number
882of watchers as EV in this benchmark.
883
884I<bytes> is the number of bytes (as measured by the resident set size,
885RSS) consumed by each watcher. This method of measuring captures both C
886and Perl-based overheads.
887
888I<create> is the time, in microseconds (millionths of seconds), that it
889takes to create a single watcher. The callback is a closure shared between
890all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
891and memory usage is not included in the figures.
892
893I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
894callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
895invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to
896signal the end of this phase.
897
898I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes destroy a single
899watcher.
900
901=head2 Results
902
903 name watcher bytes create invoke destroy comment
904 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface
905 EV/Any 100000 610 3.52 0.91 0.75 EV + AnyEvent watchers
906 CoroEV/Any 100000 610 3.49 0.92 0.75 coroutines + Coro::Signal
907 Perl/Any 16000 654 4.64 1.22 0.77 pure perl implementation
908 Event/Event 16000 523 28.05 21.38 0.86 Event native interface
909 Event/Any 16000 943 34.43 20.48 1.39 Event + AnyEvent watchers
910 Glib/Any 16000 1357 96.99 12.55 55.51 quadratic behaviour
911 Tk/Any 2000 1855 27.01 66.61 14.03 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
912 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.15 768.19 14.33 via POE::Loop::Event
913 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.69 807.65 562.69 via POE::Loop::Select
914
915=head2 Discussion
916
917The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
918well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
919can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
920file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, only a single filehandle
921is used (although some of the AnyEvent adaptors dup() its file descriptor
922to worka round bugs).
923
924C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
925maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, there is
926only one event loop that uses less memory (the C<Event> module natively), and
927no faster event model, not event C<Event> natively.
928
929The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
930zero timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
931interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless tis shows that it
932adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
933performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors, of course,
934but this was not subjetc of this benchmark.
935
936The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation cost,
937but overall scores on the third place.
938
939C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit bit higher, features a faster
940callback invocation and overall lands in the same class as C<Event>.
941
942The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well, the fact that it crashes with
943more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes
944precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the
945file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
946employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
947hidden memory cost inside the kernel, though).
948
949C<POE>, regardless of backend (wether using its pure perl select-based
950backend or the Event backend) shows abysmal performance and memory
951usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as EV watchers, and 10
952times as much memory as both Event or EV via AnyEvent. Watcher invocation
953is almost 700 times slower as with AnyEvent's pure perl implementation.
954
955Summary: using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event
956loop. The overhead AnyEvent adds can be very small, and you should avoid
957POE like the plague if you want performance or reasonable memory usage.
958
959
840=head1 FORK 960=head1 FORK
841 961
842Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 962Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
843because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 963because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware.
844 964
845If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 965If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
846watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 966watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child.
967
847 968
848=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 969=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
849 970
850AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 971AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
851$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to 972$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to
… …
859 980
860 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 981 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
861 982
862 use AnyEvent; 983 use AnyEvent;
863 984
985
864=head1 SEE ALSO 986=head1 SEE ALSO
865 987
866Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 988Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>,
867L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>, 989L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>,
868L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>. 990L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
869 991
870Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 992Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>,
871L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 993L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>,
872L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, 994L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>,
873L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>. 995L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
874 996
875Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 997Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>.
998
876 999
877=head1 AUTHOR 1000=head1 AUTHOR
878 1001
879 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1002 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
880 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1003 http://home.schmorp.de/

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