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Revision 1.78 by root, Fri Apr 25 09:06:27 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.94 by root, Sat Apr 26 04:33:51 2008 UTC

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 the 83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>,
85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
87to load these modules (excluding Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 87to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
89be 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
90found, 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
91very efficient, but should work everywhere. 91very efficient, but should work everywhere.
92 92
141=head2 I/O WATCHERS 141=head2 I/O WATCHERS
142 142
143You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 143You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
144with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 144with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
145 145
146C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch for 146C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch
147events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which 147for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>,
148creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 148which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events,
149respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 149respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle
150becomes ready. 150becomes ready.
151 151
152As long as the I/O watcher exists it will keep the file descriptor or a 152Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
153copy of it alive/open. 153presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
154callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
154 155
156The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
155It is not allowed to close a file handle as long as any watcher is active 157You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
156on the underlying file descriptor. 158underlying file descriptor.
157 159
158Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 160Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
159always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 161always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
160handles. 162handles.
161 163
172 174
173You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 175You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
174method with the following mandatory arguments: 176method with the following mandatory arguments:
175 177
176C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 178C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
177supported) should the timer activate. C<cb> the callback to invoke in that 179supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
178case. 180in that case.
181
182Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
183presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
184callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
179 185
180The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 186The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating
181timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 187timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk
182and Glib). 188and Glib).
183 189
228 234
229You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 235You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
230I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 236I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to
231be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 237be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
232 238
239Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
240presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
241callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
242
233Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback 243Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback
234invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 244invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means
235that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 245that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
236but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 246but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
237 247
251 261
252The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 262The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it
253watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 263watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often
254as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 264as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a
255signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 265signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid
256and exit status (as returned by waitpid). 266and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types,
267you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments.
257 268
258Example: wait for pid 1333 269There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
270I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
271have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
272
273Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for
274event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be
275loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place).
276
277This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an
278AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you
279C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>).
280
281Example: fork a process and wait for it
282
283 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
284
285 AnyEvent::detect; # force event module to be initialised
286
287 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
259 288
260 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 289 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
261 pid => 1333, 290 pid => $pid,
262 cb => sub { 291 cb => sub {
263 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 292 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
264 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 293 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
294 $done->broadcast;
265 }, 295 },
266 ); 296 );
297
298 # do something else, then wait for process exit
299 $done->wait;
267 300
268=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 301=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
269 302
270Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 303Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >>
271method without any arguments. 304method without any arguments.
359 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice. 392 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
360 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice. 393 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
361 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice). 394 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
362 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice. 395 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
363 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice. 396 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
397 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
364 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice. 398 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
365 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
366 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs). 399 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
367 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse. 400 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
368 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support. 401 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
369 402
370There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for 403There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
861 }); 894 });
862 895
863 $quit->wait; 896 $quit->wait;
864 897
865 898
866=head1 BENCHMARK 899=head1 BENCHMARKS
867 900
868To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds 901To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
869over the event loops themselves (and to give you an impression of the 902over the event loops themselves and to give you an impression of the speed
870speed of various event loops), here is a benchmark of various supported 903of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
871event models natively and with anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of 904
872timers (with a zero timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to 905=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
906
907Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
908through anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
909timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
873become writable, which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys 910which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
874them again.
875 911
876Rewriting the benchmark to use many different sockets instead of using 912Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
877the same filehandle for all I/O watchers results in a much longer runtime 913distribution.
878(socket creation is expensive), but qualitatively the same figures, so it
879was not used.
880 914
881=head2 Explanation of the columns 915=head3 Explanation of the columns
882 916
883I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 917I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
884different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 918different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
885loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable 919loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable
886and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib 920and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib
902signal the end of this phase. 936signal the end of this phase.
903 937
904I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single 938I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
905watcher. 939watcher.
906 940
907=head2 Results 941=head3 Results
908 942
909 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 943 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
910 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 944 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface
911 EV/Any 100000 610 3.52 0.91 0.75 EV + AnyEvent watchers 945 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers
912 CoroEV/Any 100000 610 3.49 0.92 0.75 coroutines + Coro::Signal 946 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal
913 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.91 0.92 1.15 pure perl implementation 947 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation
914 Event/Event 16000 523 28.05 21.38 0.86 Event native interface 948 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface
915 Event/Any 16000 943 34.43 20.48 1.39 Event + AnyEvent watchers 949 Event/Any 16000 936 39.17 33.63 1.43 Event + AnyEvent watchers
916 Glib/Any 16000 1357 96.99 12.55 55.51 quadratic behaviour 950 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour
917 Tk/Any 2000 1855 27.01 66.61 14.03 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 951 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
918 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.15 768.19 14.33 via POE::Loop::Event 952 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event
919 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.69 807.65 562.69 via POE::Loop::Select 953 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select
920 954
921=head2 Discussion 955=head3 Discussion
922 956
923The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 957The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
924well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 958well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
925can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of 959can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
926file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, only a single filehandle 960file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at
927is used (although some of the AnyEvent adaptors dup() its file descriptor 961the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed
928to worka round bugs). 962boost.
929 963
930C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 964C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
931maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, there are 965maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses
932only two event loops that use slightly less memory (the C<Event> module 966far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event
933natively and the pure perl backend), and no faster event models, not even 967natively.
934C<Event> natively.
935 968
936The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 969The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
937zero timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 970constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
938interpreter and the backend itself, and all watchers become ready at the 971interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
939same time). Nevertheless this shows that it adds very little overhead in 972adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
940itself. Like any select-based backend its performance becomes really bad 973performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
941with lots of file descriptors (and few of them active), of course, but 974them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
942this was not subject of this benchmark.
943 975
944The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation cost, 976The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
945but overall scores on the third place. 977cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
946 978
947C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit bit higher, but it features a 979C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
948faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 980faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
949C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 981C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
950watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 982watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
951making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers 983making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers
952(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so 984(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so
955The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with 987The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with
956more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes 988more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes
957precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the 989precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the
958file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup() 990file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
959employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a 991employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
960hidden memory cost inside the kernel, though, that is not reflected in the 992hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
961figures above). 993above).
962 994
963C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (wether using its pure perl 995C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure
964select-based backend or the Event module) shows abysmal performance and 996perl select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend
997couldn't be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance
965memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as EV watchers, 998and memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as
966and 10 times as much memory as both Event or EV via AnyEvent. Watcher 999EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
1000requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
967invocation is almost 700 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl 1001invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
968implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not 1002implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not
969really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared 1003really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared
970to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within 1004to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within
971L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow. 1005L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow.
972 1006
973=head2 Summary 1007=head3 Summary
974 1008
1009=over 4
1010
975Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop, but most 1011=item * Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop
976event loops have acceptable performance with or without AnyEvent. 1012(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1013performance with or without AnyEvent.
977 1014
978The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of 1015=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
979the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as the EV 1016the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
980adds AnyEvent significant overhead. 1017adds AnyEvent significant overhead.
981 1018
982And you should simply avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or 1019=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
983reasonable memory usage. 1020reasonable memory usage.
1021
1022=back
1023
1024=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1025
1026This benchmark atcually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1027creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socketpair, a
1028timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1029watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1030watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1031
1032The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1033are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1034fds for each loop iterstaion, but which fds these are is random). The
1035timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1036most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1037
1038In this benchmark, we use 10000 socketpairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1039(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1040connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1041
1042Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1043distribution.
1044
1045=head3 Explanation of the columns
1046
1047I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1048each server has a read and write socket end).
1049
1050I<create> is the time it takes to create a socketpair (which is
1051nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1052
1053I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1054single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1055it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1056a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1057
1058=head3 Results
1059
1060 name sockets create request
1061 EV 20000 69.01 11.16
1062 Perl 20000 75.28 112.76
1063 Event 20000 212.62 257.32
1064 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30
1065 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event
1066
1067=head3 Discussion
1068
1069This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1070particular event loop.
1071
1072EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1073is relatively high, though.
1074
1075Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1076loops Event and Glib.
1077
1078Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1079understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1080the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1081uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1082
1083Glib is hit hard by its quadratic behaviour w.r.t. many watchers. It
1084clearly fails to perform with many filehandles or in busy servers.
1085
1086POE is still completely out of the picture, taking over 1000 times as long
1087as EV, and over 100 times as long as the Perl implementation, even though
1088it uses a C-based event loop in this case.
1089
1090=head3 Summary
1091
1092=over 4
1093
1094=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well, considering
1095that it uses select.
1096
1097=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
1098
1099=back
1100
1101=head2 BENCHMARKING SMALL SERVERS
1102
1103While event loops should scale (and select-based ones do not...) even to
1104large servers, most programs we (or I :) actually write have only a few
1105I/O watchers.
1106
1107In this benchmark, I use the same benchmark program as in the large server
1108case, but it uses only eight "servers", of which three are active at any
1109one time. This should reflect performance for a small server relatively
1110well.
1111
1112The columns are identical to the previous table.
1113
1114=head3 Results
1115
1116 name sockets create request
1117 EV 16 20.00 6.54
1118 Event 16 81.27 35.86
1119 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
1120 Perl 16 24.62 162.37
1121 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
1122
1123=head3 Discussion
1124
1125The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
1126server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep
1127in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due
1128to the small absolute number of watchers.
1129
1130EV is again fastest.
1131
1132The C-based event loops Event and Glib come in second this time, as the
1133overhead of running an iteration is much smaller in C than in Perl (little
1134code to execute in the inner loop, and perl's function calling overhead is
1135high, and updating all the data structures is costly).
1136
1137The pure perl event loop is much slower, but still competitive.
1138
1139POE also performs much better in this case, but is is stillf ar behind the
1140others.
1141
1142=head3 Summary
1143
1144=over 4
1145
1146=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1147watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1148
1149=back
984 1150
985 1151
986=head1 FORK 1152=head1 FORK
987 1153
988Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 1154Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are

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