[ViewVC] Diff of: cvs/cvsroot/Coro/Coro.pm

Comparing cvsroot/Coro/Coro.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.274 by root, Sat Dec 12 01:30:26 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.286 by root, Sat Feb 19 04:34:59 2011 UTC

…		…
40	points in your program, so locking and parallel access are rarely an	40	points in your program, so locking and parallel access are rarely an
41	issue, making thread programming much safer and easier than using other	41	issue, making thread programming much safer and easier than using other
42	thread models.	42	thread models.
43		43
44	Unlike the so-called "Perl threads" (which are not actually real threads	44	Unlike the so-called "Perl threads" (which are not actually real threads
45	but only the windows process emulation (see section of same name for more	45	but only the windows process emulation (see section of same name for
46	details) ported to unix, and as such act as processes), Coro provides	46	more details) ported to UNIX, and as such act as processes), Coro
47	a full shared address space, which makes communication between threads	47	provides a full shared address space, which makes communication between
48	very easy. And Coro's threads are fast, too: disabling the Windows	48	threads very easy. And coro threads are fast, too: disabling the Windows
49	process emulation code in your perl and using Coro can easily result in	49	process emulation code in your perl and using Coro can easily result in
50	a two to four times speed increase for your programs. A parallel matrix	50	a two to four times speed increase for your programs. A parallel matrix
51	multiplication benchmark runs over 300 times faster on a single core than	51	multiplication benchmark (very communication-intensive) runs over 300
52	perl's pseudo-threads on a quad core using all four cores.	52	times faster on a single core than perls pseudo-threads on a quad core
		53	using all four cores.
53		54
54	Coro achieves that by supporting multiple running interpreters that share	55	Coro achieves that by supporting multiple running interpreters that share
55	data, which is especially useful to code pseudo-parallel processes and	56	data, which is especially useful to code pseudo-parallel processes and
56	for event-based programming, such as multiple HTTP-GET requests running	57	for event-based programming, such as multiple HTTP-GET requests running
57	concurrently. See L<Coro::AnyEvent> to learn more on how to integrate Coro	58	concurrently. See L<Coro::AnyEvent> to learn more on how to integrate Coro
…		…
63	variables (see L<Coro::State> for more configuration and background info).	64	variables (see L<Coro::State> for more configuration and background info).
64		65
65	See also the C<SEE ALSO> section at the end of this document - the Coro	66	See also the C<SEE ALSO> section at the end of this document - the Coro
66	module family is quite large.	67	module family is quite large.
67		68
		69	=head1 CORO THREAD LIFE CYCLE
		70
		71	During the long and exciting (or not) life of a coro thread, it goes
		72	through a number of states:
		73
		74	=over 4
		75
		76	=item 1. Creation
		77
		78	The first thing in the life of a coro thread is it's creation -
		79	obviously. The typical way to create a thread is to call the C<async
		80	BLOCK> function:
		81
		82	async {
		83	# thread code goes here
		84	};
		85
		86	You can also pass arguments, which are put in C<@_>:
		87
		88	async {
		89	print $_[1]; # prints 2
		90	} 1, 2, 3;
		91
		92	This creates a new coro thread and puts it into the ready queue, meaning
		93	it will run as soon as the CPU is free for it.
		94
		95	C<async> will return a coro object - you can store this for future
		96	reference or ignore it, the thread itself will keep a reference to it's
		97	thread object - threads are alive on their own.
		98
		99	Another way to create a thread is to call the C<new> constructor with a
		100	code-reference:
		101
		102	new Coro sub {
		103	# thread code goes here
		104	}, @optional_arguments;
		105
		106	This is quite similar to calling C<async>, but the important difference is
		107	that the new thread is not put into the ready queue, so the thread will
		108	not run until somebody puts it there. C<async> is, therefore, identical to
		109	this sequence:
		110
		111	my $coro = new Coro sub {
		112	# thread code goes here
		113	};
		114	$coro->ready;
		115	return $coro;
		116
		117	=item 2. Startup
		118
		119	When a new coro thread is created, only a copy of the code reference
		120	and the arguments are stored, no extra memory for stacks and so on is
		121	allocated, keeping the coro thread in a low-memory state.
		122
		123	Only when it actually starts executing will all the resources be finally
		124	allocated.
		125
		126	The optional arguments specified at coro creation are available in C<@_>,
		127	similar to function calls.
		128
		129	=item 3. Running / Blocking
		130
		131	A lot can happen after the coro thread has started running. Quite usually,
		132	it will not run to the end in one go (because you could use a function
		133	instead), but it will give up the CPU regularly because it waits for
		134	external events.
		135
		136	As long as a coro thread runs, it's coro object is available in the global
		137	variable C<$Coro::current>.
		138
		139	The low-level way to give up the CPU is to call the scheduler, which
		140	selects a new coro thread to run:
		141
		142	Coro::schedule;
		143
		144	Since running threads are not in the ready queue, calling the scheduler
		145	without doing anything else will block the coro thread forever - you need
		146	to arrange either for the coro to put woken up (readied) by some other
		147	event or some other thread, or you can put it into the ready queue before
		148	scheduling:
		149
		150	# this is exactly what Coro::cede does
		151	$Coro::current->ready;
		152	Coro::schedule;
		153
		154	All the higher-level synchronisation methods (Coro::Semaphore,
		155	Coro::rouse_*...) are actually implemented via C<< ->ready >> and C<<
		156	Coro::schedule >>.
		157
		158	While the coro thread is running it also might get assigned a C-level
		159	thread, or the C-level thread might be unassigned from it, as the Coro
		160	runtime wishes. A C-level thread needs to be assigned when your perl
		161	thread calls into some C-level function and that function in turn calls
		162	perl and perl then wants to switch coroutines. This happens most often
		163	when you run an event loop and block in the callback, or when perl
		164	itself calls some function such as C<AUTOLOAD> or methods via the C<tie>
		165	mechanism.
		166
		167	=item 4. Termination
		168
		169	Many threads actually terminate after some time. There are a number of
		170	ways to terminate a coro thread, the simplest is returning from the
		171	top-level code reference:
		172
		173	async {
		174	# after returning from here, the coro thread is terminated
		175	};
		176
		177	async {
		178	return if 0.5 < rand; # terminate a little earlier, maybe
		179	print "got a chance to print this\n";
		180	# or here
		181	};
		182
		183	Any values returned from the coroutine can be recovered using C<< ->join
		184	>>:
		185
		186	my $coro = async {
		187	"hello, world\n" # return a string
		188	};
		189
		190	my $hello_world = $coro->join;
		191
		192	print $hello_world;
		193
		194	Another way to terminate is to call C<< Coro::terminate >>, which at any
		195	subroutine call nesting level:
		196
		197	async {
		198	Coro::terminate "return value 1", "return value 2";
		199	};
		200
		201	And yet another way is to C<< ->cancel >> the coro thread from another
		202	thread:
		203
		204	my $coro = async {
		205	exit 1;
		206	};
		207
		208	$coro->cancel; # an also accept values for ->join to retrieve
		209
		210	Cancellation I<can> be dangerous - it's a bit like calling C<exit> without
		211	actually exiting, and might leave C libraries and XS modules in a weird
		212	state. Unlike other thread implementations, however, Coro is exceptionally
		213	safe with regards to cancellation, as perl will always be in a consistent
		214	state.
		215
		216	So, cancelling a thread that runs in an XS event loop might not be the
		217	best idea, but any other combination that deals with perl only (cancelling
		218	when a thread is in a C<tie> method or an C<AUTOLOAD> for example) is
		219	safe.
		220
		221	=item 5. Cleanup
		222
		223	Threads will allocate various resources. Most but not all will be returned
		224	when a thread terminates, during clean-up.
		225
		226	Cleanup is quite similar to throwing an uncaught exception: perl will
		227	work it's way up through all subroutine calls and blocks. On it's way, it
		228	will release all C<my> variables, undo all C<local>'s and free any other
		229	resources truly local to the thread.
		230
		231	So, a common way to free resources is to keep them referenced only by my
		232	variables:
		233
		234	async {
		235	my $big_cache = new Cache ...;
		236	};
		237
		238	If there are no other references, then the C<$big_cache> object will be
		239	freed when the thread terminates, regardless of how it does so.
		240
		241	What it does C<NOT> do is unlock any Coro::Semaphores or similar
		242	resources, but that's where the C<guard> methods come in handy:
		243
		244	my $sem = new Coro::Semaphore;
		245
		246	async {
		247	my $lock_guard = $sem->guard;
		248	# if we reutrn, or die or get cancelled, here,
		249	# then the semaphore will be "up"ed.
		250	};
		251
		252	The C<Guard::guard> function comes in handy for any custom cleanup you
		253	might want to do:
		254
		255	async {
		256	my $window = new Gtk2::Window "toplevel";
		257	# The window will not be cleaned up automatically, even when $window
		258	# gets freed, so use a guard to ensure it's destruction
		259	# in case of an error:
		260	my $window_guard = Guard::guard { $window->destroy };
		261
		262	# we are safe here
		263	};
		264
		265	Last not least, C<local> can often be handy, too, e.g. when temporarily
		266	replacing the coro thread description:
		267
		268	sub myfunction {
		269	local $Coro::current->{desc} = "inside myfunction(@_)";
		270
		271	# if we return or die here, the description will be restored
		272	}
		273
		274	=item 6. Viva La Zombie Muerte
		275
		276	Even after a thread has terminated and cleaned up it's resources, the coro
		277	object still is there and stores the return values of the thread. Only in
		278	this state will the coro object be "reference counted" in the normal perl
		279	sense: the thread code keeps a reference to it when it is active, but not
		280	after it has terminated.
		281
		282	The means the coro object gets freed automatically when the thread has
		283	terminated and cleaned up and there arenot other references.
		284
		285	If there are, the coro object will stay around, and you can call C<<
		286	->join >> as many times as you wish to retrieve the result values:
		287
		288	async {
		289	print "hi\n";
		290	1
		291	};
		292
		293	# run the async above, and free everything before returning
		294	# from Coro::cede:
		295	Coro::cede;
		296
		297	{
		298	my $coro = async {
		299	print "hi\n";
		300	1
		301	};
		302
		303	# run the async above, and clean up, but do not free the coro
		304	# object:
		305	Coro::cede;
		306
		307	# optionally retrieve the result values
		308	my @results = $coro->join;
		309
		310	# now $coro goes out of scope, and presumably gets freed
		311	};
		312
		313	=back
		314
68	=cut	315	=cut
69		316
70	package Coro;	317	package Coro;
71		318
72	use common::sense;	319	use common::sense;
…		…
81		328
82	our $idle; # idle handler	329	our $idle; # idle handler
83	our $main; # main coro	330	our $main; # main coro
84	our $current; # current coro	331	our $current; # current coro
85		332
86	our $VERSION = 5.21;	333	our $VERSION = 5.26;
87		334
88	our @EXPORT = qw(async async_pool cede schedule terminate current unblock_sub rouse_cb rouse_wait);	335	our @EXPORT = qw(async async_pool cede schedule terminate current unblock_sub rouse_cb rouse_wait);
89	our %EXPORT_TAGS = (	336	our %EXPORT_TAGS = (
90	prio => [qw(PRIO_MAX PRIO_HIGH PRIO_NORMAL PRIO_LOW PRIO_IDLE PRIO_MIN)],	337	prio => [qw(PRIO_MAX PRIO_HIGH PRIO_NORMAL PRIO_LOW PRIO_IDLE PRIO_MIN)],
91	);	338	);
…		…
131		378
132	The default implementation dies with "FATAL: deadlock detected.", followed	379	The default implementation dies with "FATAL: deadlock detected.", followed
133	by a thread listing, because the program has no other way to continue.	380	by a thread listing, because the program has no other way to continue.
134		381
135	This hook is overwritten by modules such as C<Coro::EV> and	382	This hook is overwritten by modules such as C<Coro::EV> and
136	C<Coro::AnyEvent> to wait on an external event that hopefully wake up a	383	C<Coro::AnyEvent> to wait on an external event that hopefully wakes up a
137	coro so the scheduler can run it.	384	coro so the scheduler can run it.
138		385
139	See L<Coro::EV> or L<Coro::AnyEvent> for examples of using this technique.	386	See L<Coro::EV> or L<Coro::AnyEvent> for examples of using this technique.
140		387
141	=cut	388	=cut
142		389
		390	# \|\|= because other modules could have provided their own by now
143	$idle = new Coro sub {	391	$idle \|\|= new Coro sub {
144	require Coro::Debug;	392	require Coro::Debug;
145	die "FATAL: deadlock detected.\n"	393	die "FATAL: deadlock detected.\n"
146	. Coro::Debug::ps_listing ();	394	. Coro::Debug::ps_listing ();
147	};	395	};
148		396
…		…
566	wantarray ? @{$self->{_status}} : $self->{_status}[0];	814	wantarray ? @{$self->{_status}} : $self->{_status}[0];
567	}	815	}
568		816
569	=item $coro->on_destroy (\&cb)	817	=item $coro->on_destroy (\&cb)
570		818
571	Registers a callback that is called when this coro gets destroyed,	819	Registers a callback that is called when this coro thread gets destroyed,
572	but before it is joined. The callback gets passed the terminate arguments,	820	but before it is joined. The callback gets passed the terminate arguments,
573	if any, and I<must not> die, under any circumstances.	821	if any, and I<must not> die, under any circumstances.
574		822
		823	There can be any number of C<on_destroy> callbacks per coro.
		824
575	=cut	825	=cut
576		826
577	sub on_destroy {	827	sub on_destroy {
578	my ($self, $cb) = @_;	828	my ($self, $cb) = @_;
579		829
…		…
581	}	831	}
582		832
583	=item $oldprio = $coro->prio ($newprio)	833	=item $oldprio = $coro->prio ($newprio)
584		834
585	Sets (or gets, if the argument is missing) the priority of the	835	Sets (or gets, if the argument is missing) the priority of the
586	coro. Higher priority coro get run before lower priority	836	coro thread. Higher priority coro get run before lower priority
587	coro. Priorities are small signed integers (currently -4 .. +3),	837	coros. Priorities are small signed integers (currently -4 .. +3),
588	that you can refer to using PRIO_xxx constants (use the import tag :prio	838	that you can refer to using PRIO_xxx constants (use the import tag :prio
589	to get then):	839	to get then):
590		840
591	PRIO_MAX > PRIO_HIGH > PRIO_NORMAL > PRIO_LOW > PRIO_IDLE > PRIO_MIN	841	PRIO_MAX > PRIO_HIGH > PRIO_NORMAL > PRIO_LOW > PRIO_IDLE > PRIO_MIN
592	3 > 1 > 0 > -1 > -3 > -4	842	3 > 1 > 0 > -1 > -3 > -4
593		843
594	# set priority to HIGH	844	# set priority to HIGH
595	current->prio (PRIO_HIGH);	845	current->prio (PRIO_HIGH);
596		846
597	The idle coro ($Coro::idle) always has a lower priority than any	847	The idle coro thread ($Coro::idle) always has a lower priority than any
598	existing coro.	848	existing coro.
599		849
600	Changing the priority of the current coro will take effect immediately,	850	Changing the priority of the current coro will take effect immediately,
601	but changing the priority of coro in the ready queue (but not	851	but changing the priority of a coro in the ready queue (but not running)
602	running) will only take effect after the next schedule (of that	852	will only take effect after the next schedule (of that coro). This is a
603	coro). This is a bug that will be fixed in some future version.	853	bug that will be fixed in some future version.
604		854
605	=item $newprio = $coro->nice ($change)	855	=item $newprio = $coro->nice ($change)
606		856
607	Similar to C<prio>, but subtract the given value from the priority (i.e.	857	Similar to C<prio>, but subtract the given value from the priority (i.e.
608	higher values mean lower priority, just as in unix).	858	higher values mean lower priority, just as in UNIX's nice command).
609		859
610	=item $olddesc = $coro->desc ($newdesc)	860	=item $olddesc = $coro->desc ($newdesc)
611		861
612	Sets (or gets in case the argument is missing) the description for this	862	Sets (or gets in case the argument is missing) the description for this
613	coro. This is just a free-form string you can associate with a	863	coro thread. This is just a free-form string you can associate with a
614	coro.	864	coro.
615		865
616	This method simply sets the C<< $coro->{desc} >> member to the given	866	This method simply sets the C<< $coro->{desc} >> member to the given
617	string. You can modify this member directly if you wish.	867	string. You can modify this member directly if you wish, and in fact, this
		868	is often preferred to indicate major processing states that cna then be
		869	seen for example in a L<Coro::Debug> session:
		870
		871	sub my_long_function {
		872	local $Coro::current->{desc} = "now in my_long_function";
		873	...
		874	$Coro::current->{desc} = "my_long_function: phase 1";
		875	...
		876	$Coro::current->{desc} = "my_long_function: phase 2";
		877	...
		878	}
618		879
619	=cut	880	=cut
620		881
621	sub desc {	882	sub desc {
622	my $old = $_[0]{desc};	883	my $old = $_[0]{desc};
…		…
659	returning a new coderef. Unblocking means that calling the new coderef	920	returning a new coderef. Unblocking means that calling the new coderef
660	will return immediately without blocking, returning nothing, while the	921	will return immediately without blocking, returning nothing, while the
661	original code ref will be called (with parameters) from within another	922	original code ref will be called (with parameters) from within another
662	coro.	923	coro.
663		924
664	The reason this function exists is that many event libraries (such as the	925	The reason this function exists is that many event libraries (such as
665	venerable L<Event\|Event> module) are not thread-safe (a weaker form	926	the venerable L<Event\|Event> module) are not thread-safe (a weaker form
666	of reentrancy). This means you must not block within event callbacks,	927	of reentrancy). This means you must not block within event callbacks,
667	otherwise you might suffer from crashes or worse. The only event library	928	otherwise you might suffer from crashes or worse. The only event library
668	currently known that is safe to use without C<unblock_sub> is L<EV>.	929	currently known that is safe to use without C<unblock_sub> is L<EV> (but
		930	you might still run into deadlocks if all event loops are blocked).
669		931
670	Coro will try to catch you when you block in the event loop	932	Coro will try to catch you when you block in the event loop
671	("FATAL:$Coro::IDLE blocked itself"), but this is just best effort and	933	("FATAL:$Coro::IDLE blocked itself"), but this is just best effort and
672	only works when you do not run your own event loop.	934	only works when you do not run your own event loop.
673		935
…		…
744		1006
745	=back	1007	=back
746		1008
747	=cut	1009	=cut
748		1010
		1011	for my $module (qw(Channel RWLock Semaphore SemaphoreSet Signal Specific)) {
		1012	my $old = defined &{"Coro::$module\::new"} && \&{"Coro::$module\::new"};
		1013
		1014	*{"Coro::$module\::new"} = sub {
		1015	require "Coro/$module.pm";
		1016
		1017	# some modules have their new predefined in State.xs, some don't
		1018	*{"Coro::$module\::new"} = $old
		1019	if $old;
		1020
		1021	goto &{"Coro::$module\::new"};
		1022	};
		1023	}
		1024
749	1;	1025	1;
750		1026
751	=head1 HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK	1027	=head1 HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK
752		1028
753	It is very common for a coro to wait for some callback to be	1029	It is very common for a coro to wait for some callback to be
…		…
856	ithreads (for example, that memory or files would be shared), showing his	1132	ithreads (for example, that memory or files would be shared), showing his
857	lack of understanding of this area - if it is hard to understand for Chip,	1133	lack of understanding of this area - if it is hard to understand for Chip,
858	it is probably not obvious to everybody).	1134	it is probably not obvious to everybody).
859		1135
860	What follows is an ultra-condensed version of my talk about threads in	1136	What follows is an ultra-condensed version of my talk about threads in
861	scripting languages given onthe perl workshop 2009:	1137	scripting languages given on the perl workshop 2009:
862		1138
863	The so-called "ithreads" were originally implemented for two reasons:	1139	The so-called "ithreads" were originally implemented for two reasons:
864	first, to (badly) emulate unix processes on native win32 perls, and	1140	first, to (badly) emulate unix processes on native win32 perls, and
865	secondly, to replace the older, real thread model ("5.005-threads").	1141	secondly, to replace the older, real thread model ("5.005-threads").
866		1142

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Comparing cvsroot/Coro/Coro.pm (file contents): Revision 1.274 by root, Sat Dec 12 01:30:26 2009 UTC vs. Revision 1.286 by root, Sat Feb 19 04:34:59 2011 UTC

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Comparing cvsroot/Coro/Coro.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.274 by root, Sat Dec 12 01:30:26 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.286 by root, Sat Feb 19 04:34:59 2011 UTC