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Revision: 1.98
Committed: Mon Dec 4 21:56:00 2006 UTC (17 years, 6 months ago) by root
Branch: MAIN
CVS Tags: rel-3_1
Changes since 1.97: +17 -8 lines
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# Content
1 =head1 NAME
2
3 Coro - coroutine process abstraction
4
5 =head1 SYNOPSIS
6
7 use Coro;
8
9 async {
10 # some asynchronous thread of execution
11 };
12
13 # alternatively create an async coroutine like this:
14
15 sub some_func : Coro {
16 # some more async code
17 }
18
19 cede;
20
21 =head1 DESCRIPTION
22
23 This module collection manages coroutines. Coroutines are similar
24 to threads but don't run in parallel at the same time even on SMP
25 machines. The specific flavor of coroutine use din this module also
26 guarentees you that it will not switch between coroutines unless
27 necessary, at easily-identified points in your program, so locking and
28 parallel access are rarely an issue, making coroutine programming much
29 safer than threads programming.
30
31 (Perl, however, does not natively support real threads but instead does a
32 very slow and memory-intensive emulation of processes using threads. This
33 is a performance win on Windows machines, and a loss everywhere else).
34
35 In this module, coroutines are defined as "callchain + lexical variables +
36 @_ + $_ + $@ + $/ + C stack), that is, a coroutine has its own callchain,
37 its own set of lexicals and its own set of perls most important global
38 variables.
39
40 =cut
41
42 package Coro;
43
44 use strict;
45 no warnings "uninitialized";
46
47 use Coro::State;
48
49 use base qw(Coro::State Exporter);
50
51 our $idle; # idle handler
52 our $main; # main coroutine
53 our $current; # current coroutine
54
55 our $VERSION = '3.1';
56
57 our @EXPORT = qw(async cede schedule terminate current unblock_sub);
58 our %EXPORT_TAGS = (
59 prio => [qw(PRIO_MAX PRIO_HIGH PRIO_NORMAL PRIO_LOW PRIO_IDLE PRIO_MIN)],
60 );
61 our @EXPORT_OK = (@{$EXPORT_TAGS{prio}}, qw(nready));
62
63 {
64 my @async;
65 my $init;
66
67 # this way of handling attributes simply is NOT scalable ;()
68 sub import {
69 no strict 'refs';
70
71 Coro->export_to_level (1, @_);
72
73 my $old = *{(caller)[0]."::MODIFY_CODE_ATTRIBUTES"}{CODE};
74 *{(caller)[0]."::MODIFY_CODE_ATTRIBUTES"} = sub {
75 my ($package, $ref) = (shift, shift);
76 my @attrs;
77 for (@_) {
78 if ($_ eq "Coro") {
79 push @async, $ref;
80 unless ($init++) {
81 eval q{
82 sub INIT {
83 &async(pop @async) while @async;
84 }
85 };
86 }
87 } else {
88 push @attrs, $_;
89 }
90 }
91 return $old ? $old->($package, $ref, @attrs) : @attrs;
92 };
93 }
94
95 }
96
97 =over 4
98
99 =item $main
100
101 This coroutine represents the main program.
102
103 =cut
104
105 $main = new Coro;
106
107 =item $current (or as function: current)
108
109 The current coroutine (the last coroutine switched to). The initial value
110 is C<$main> (of course).
111
112 This variable is B<strictly> I<read-only>. It is provided for performance
113 reasons. If performance is not essentiel you are encouraged to use the
114 C<Coro::current> function instead.
115
116 =cut
117
118 # maybe some other module used Coro::Specific before...
119 $main->{specific} = $current->{specific}
120 if $current;
121
122 _set_current $main;
123
124 sub current() { $current }
125
126 =item $idle
127
128 A callback that is called whenever the scheduler finds no ready coroutines
129 to run. The default implementation prints "FATAL: deadlock detected" and
130 exits, because the program has no other way to continue.
131
132 This hook is overwritten by modules such as C<Coro::Timer> and
133 C<Coro::Event> to wait on an external event that hopefully wake up a
134 coroutine so the scheduler can run it.
135
136 Please note that if your callback recursively invokes perl (e.g. for event
137 handlers), then it must be prepared to be called recursively.
138
139 =cut
140
141 $idle = sub {
142 require Carp;
143 Carp::croak ("FATAL: deadlock detected");
144 };
145
146 # this coroutine is necessary because a coroutine
147 # cannot destroy itself.
148 my @destroy;
149 my $manager; $manager = new Coro sub {
150 while () {
151 # by overwriting the state object with the manager we destroy it
152 # while still being able to schedule this coroutine (in case it has
153 # been readied multiple times. this is harmless since the manager
154 # can be called as many times as neccessary and will always
155 # remove itself from the runqueue
156 while (@destroy) {
157 my $coro = pop @destroy;
158 $coro->{status} ||= [];
159 $_->ready for @{delete $coro->{join} || []};
160
161 # the next line destroys the coro state, but keeps the
162 # coroutine itself intact (we basically make it a zombie
163 # coroutine that always runs the manager thread, so it's possible
164 # to transfer() to this coroutine).
165 $coro->_clone_state_from ($manager);
166 }
167 &schedule;
168 }
169 };
170
171 # static methods. not really.
172
173 =back
174
175 =head2 STATIC METHODS
176
177 Static methods are actually functions that operate on the current coroutine only.
178
179 =over 4
180
181 =item async { ... } [@args...]
182
183 Create a new asynchronous coroutine and return it's coroutine object
184 (usually unused). When the sub returns the new coroutine is automatically
185 terminated.
186
187 Calling C<exit> in a coroutine will not work correctly, so do not do that.
188
189 When the coroutine dies, the program will exit, just as in the main
190 program.
191
192 # create a new coroutine that just prints its arguments
193 async {
194 print "@_\n";
195 } 1,2,3,4;
196
197 =cut
198
199 sub async(&@) {
200 my $pid = new Coro @_;
201 $pid->ready;
202 $pid
203 }
204
205 =item schedule
206
207 Calls the scheduler. Please note that the current coroutine will not be put
208 into the ready queue, so calling this function usually means you will
209 never be called again unless something else (e.g. an event handler) calls
210 ready.
211
212 The canonical way to wait on external events is this:
213
214 {
215 # remember current coroutine
216 my $current = $Coro::current;
217
218 # register a hypothetical event handler
219 on_event_invoke sub {
220 # wake up sleeping coroutine
221 $current->ready;
222 undef $current;
223 };
224
225 # call schedule until event occured.
226 # in case we are woken up for other reasons
227 # (current still defined), loop.
228 Coro::schedule while $current;
229 }
230
231 =item cede
232
233 "Cede" to other coroutines. This function puts the current coroutine into the
234 ready queue and calls C<schedule>, which has the effect of giving up the
235 current "timeslice" to other coroutines of the same or higher priority.
236
237 =item terminate [arg...]
238
239 Terminates the current coroutine with the given status values (see L<cancel>).
240
241 =cut
242
243 sub terminate {
244 $current->cancel (@_);
245 }
246
247 =back
248
249 # dynamic methods
250
251 =head2 COROUTINE METHODS
252
253 These are the methods you can call on coroutine objects.
254
255 =over 4
256
257 =item new Coro \&sub [, @args...]
258
259 Create a new coroutine and return it. When the sub returns the coroutine
260 automatically terminates as if C<terminate> with the returned values were
261 called. To make the coroutine run you must first put it into the ready queue
262 by calling the ready method.
263
264 Calling C<exit> in a coroutine will not work correctly, so do not do that.
265
266 =cut
267
268 sub _run_coro {
269 terminate &{+shift};
270 }
271
272 sub new {
273 my $class = shift;
274
275 $class->SUPER::new (\&_run_coro, @_)
276 }
277
278 =item $success = $coroutine->ready
279
280 Put the given coroutine into the ready queue (according to it's priority)
281 and return true. If the coroutine is already in the ready queue, do nothing
282 and return false.
283
284 =item $is_ready = $coroutine->is_ready
285
286 Return wether the coroutine is currently the ready queue or not,
287
288 =item $coroutine->cancel (arg...)
289
290 Terminates the given coroutine and makes it return the given arguments as
291 status (default: the empty list).
292
293 =cut
294
295 sub cancel {
296 my $self = shift;
297 $self->{status} = [@_];
298 push @destroy, $self;
299 $manager->ready;
300 &schedule if $current == $self;
301 }
302
303 =item $coroutine->join
304
305 Wait until the coroutine terminates and return any values given to the
306 C<terminate> or C<cancel> functions. C<join> can be called multiple times
307 from multiple coroutine.
308
309 =cut
310
311 sub join {
312 my $self = shift;
313 unless ($self->{status}) {
314 push @{$self->{join}}, $current;
315 &schedule;
316 }
317 wantarray ? @{$self->{status}} : $self->{status}[0];
318 }
319
320 =item $oldprio = $coroutine->prio ($newprio)
321
322 Sets (or gets, if the argument is missing) the priority of the
323 coroutine. Higher priority coroutines get run before lower priority
324 coroutines. Priorities are small signed integers (currently -4 .. +3),
325 that you can refer to using PRIO_xxx constants (use the import tag :prio
326 to get then):
327
328 PRIO_MAX > PRIO_HIGH > PRIO_NORMAL > PRIO_LOW > PRIO_IDLE > PRIO_MIN
329 3 > 1 > 0 > -1 > -3 > -4
330
331 # set priority to HIGH
332 current->prio(PRIO_HIGH);
333
334 The idle coroutine ($Coro::idle) always has a lower priority than any
335 existing coroutine.
336
337 Changing the priority of the current coroutine will take effect immediately,
338 but changing the priority of coroutines in the ready queue (but not
339 running) will only take effect after the next schedule (of that
340 coroutine). This is a bug that will be fixed in some future version.
341
342 =item $newprio = $coroutine->nice ($change)
343
344 Similar to C<prio>, but subtract the given value from the priority (i.e.
345 higher values mean lower priority, just as in unix).
346
347 =item $olddesc = $coroutine->desc ($newdesc)
348
349 Sets (or gets in case the argument is missing) the description for this
350 coroutine. This is just a free-form string you can associate with a coroutine.
351
352 =cut
353
354 sub desc {
355 my $old = $_[0]{desc};
356 $_[0]{desc} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
357 $old;
358 }
359
360 =back
361
362 =head2 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
363
364 =over 4
365
366 =item Coro::nready
367
368 Returns the number of coroutines that are currently in the ready state,
369 i.e. that can be swicthed to. The value C<0> means that the only runnable
370 coroutine is the currently running one, so C<cede> would have no effect,
371 and C<schedule> would cause a deadlock unless there is an idle handler
372 that wakes up some coroutines.
373
374 =item unblock_sub { ... }
375
376 This utility function takes a BLOCK or code reference and "unblocks" it,
377 returning the new coderef. This means that the new coderef will return
378 immediately without blocking, returning nothing, while the original code
379 ref will be called (with parameters) from within its own coroutine.
380
381 The reason this fucntion exists is that many event libraries (such as the
382 venerable L<Event|Event> module) are not coroutine-safe (a weaker form
383 of thread-safety). This means you must not block within event callbacks,
384 otherwise you might suffer from crashes or worse.
385
386 This function allows your callbacks to block by executing them in another
387 coroutine where it is safe to block. One example where blocking is handy
388 is when you use the L<Coro::AIO|Coro::AIO> functions to save results to
389 disk.
390
391 In short: simply use C<unblock_sub { ... }> instead of C<sub { ... }> when
392 creating event callbacks that want to block.
393
394 =cut
395
396 our @unblock_pool;
397 our @unblock_queue;
398 our $UNBLOCK_POOL_SIZE = 2;
399
400 sub unblock_handler_ {
401 while () {
402 my ($cb, @arg) = @{ delete $Coro::current->{arg} };
403 $cb->(@arg);
404
405 last if @unblock_pool >= $UNBLOCK_POOL_SIZE;
406 push @unblock_pool, $Coro::current;
407 schedule;
408 }
409 }
410
411 our $unblock_scheduler = async {
412 while () {
413 while (my $cb = pop @unblock_queue) {
414 my $handler = (pop @unblock_pool or new Coro \&unblock_handler_);
415 $handler->{arg} = $cb;
416 $handler->ready;
417 cede;
418 }
419
420 schedule;
421 }
422 };
423
424 sub unblock_sub(&) {
425 my $cb = shift;
426
427 sub {
428 push @unblock_queue, [$cb, @_];
429 $unblock_scheduler->ready;
430 }
431 }
432
433 =back
434
435 =cut
436
437 1;
438
439 =head1 BUGS/LIMITATIONS
440
441 - you must make very sure that no coro is still active on global
442 destruction. very bad things might happen otherwise (usually segfaults).
443
444 - this module is not thread-safe. You should only ever use this module
445 from the same thread (this requirement might be losened in the future
446 to allow per-thread schedulers, but Coro::State does not yet allow
447 this).
448
449 =head1 SEE ALSO
450
451 Support/Utility: L<Coro::Cont>, L<Coro::Specific>, L<Coro::State>, L<Coro::Util>.
452
453 Locking/IPC: L<Coro::Signal>, L<Coro::Channel>, L<Coro::Semaphore>, L<Coro::SemaphoreSet>, L<Coro::RWLock>.
454
455 Event/IO: L<Coro::Timer>, L<Coro::Event>, L<Coro::Handle>, L<Coro::Socket>, L<Coro::Select>.
456
457 Embedding: L<Coro:MakeMaker>
458
459 =head1 AUTHOR
460
461 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
462 http://home.schmorp.de/
463
464 =cut
465