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1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3Coro - coroutine process abstraction 3Coro - the only real threads in perl
4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use Coro; 7 use Coro;
8 8
9 async { 9 async {
10 # some asynchronous thread of execution 10 # some asynchronous thread of execution
11 print "2\n";
12 cede; # yield back to main
13 print "4\n";
11 }; 14 };
12 15 print "1\n";
13 # alternatively create an async process like this: 16 cede; # yield to coro
14 17 print "3\n";
15 sub some_func : Coro { 18 cede; # and again
16 # some more async code 19
17 } 20 # use locking
18 21 use Coro::Semaphore;
19 cede; 22 my $lock = new Coro::Semaphore;
23 my $locked;
24
25 $lock->down;
26 $locked = 1;
27 $lock->up;
20 28
21=head1 DESCRIPTION 29=head1 DESCRIPTION
22 30
23This module collection manages coroutines. Coroutines are similar to 31For a tutorial-style introduction, please read the L<Coro::Intro>
24Threads but don't run in parallel. 32manpage. This manpage mainly contains reference information.
25 33
26This module is still experimental, see the BUGS section below. 34This module collection manages continuations in general, most often in
35the form of cooperative threads (also called coros, or simply "coro"
36in the documentation). They are similar to kernel threads but don't (in
37general) run in parallel at the same time even on SMP machines. The
38specific flavor of thread offered by this module also guarantees you that
39it will not switch between threads unless necessary, at easily-identified
40points in your program, so locking and parallel access are rarely an
41issue, making thread programming much safer and easier than using other
42thread models.
27 43
44Unlike the so-called "Perl threads" (which are not actually real threads
45but only the windows process emulation (see section of same name for
46more details) ported to UNIX, and as such act as processes), Coro
47provides a full shared address space, which makes communication between
48threads very easy. And coro threads are fast, too: disabling the Windows
49process emulation code in your perl and using Coro can easily result in
50a two to four times speed increase for your programs. A parallel matrix
51multiplication benchmark (very communication-intensive) runs over 300
52times faster on a single core than perls pseudo-threads on a quad core
53using all four cores.
54
55Coro achieves that by supporting multiple running interpreters that share
56data, which is especially useful to code pseudo-parallel processes and
57for event-based programming, such as multiple HTTP-GET requests running
58concurrently. See L<Coro::AnyEvent> to learn more on how to integrate Coro
59into an event-based environment.
60
28In this module, coroutines are defined as "callchain + lexical variables 61In this module, a thread is defined as "callchain + lexical variables +
29+ @_ + $_ + $@ + $^W + C stack), that is, a coroutine has it's own 62some package variables + C stack), that is, a thread has its own callchain,
30callchain, it's own set of lexicals and it's own set of perl's most 63its own set of lexicals and its own set of perls most important global
31important global variables. 64variables (see L<Coro::State> for more configuration and background info).
65
66See also the C<SEE ALSO> section at the end of this document - the Coro
67module family is quite large.
68
69=head1 CORO THREAD LIFE CYCLE
70
71During the long and exciting (or not) life of a coro thread, it goes
72through a number of states:
73
74=over 4
75
76=item 1. Creation
77
78The first thing in the life of a coro thread is it's creation -
79obviously. The typical way to create a thread is to call the C<async
80BLOCK> function:
81
82 async {
83 # thread code goes here
84 };
85
86You can also pass arguments, which are put in C<@_>:
87
88 async {
89 print $_[1]; # prints 2
90 } 1, 2, 3;
91
92This creates a new coro thread and puts it into the ready queue, meaning
93it will run as soon as the CPU is free for it.
94
95C<async> will return a coro object - you can store this for future
96reference or ignore it, the thread itself will keep a reference to it's
97thread object - threads are alive on their own.
98
99Another way to create a thread is to call the C<new> constructor with a
100code-reference:
101
102 new Coro sub {
103 # thread code goes here
104 }, @optional_arguments;
105
106This is quite similar to calling C<async>, but the important difference is
107that the new thread is not put into the ready queue, so the thread will
108not run until somebody puts it there. C<async> is, therefore, identical to
109this sequence:
110
111 my $coro = new Coro sub {
112 # thread code goes here
113 };
114 $coro->ready;
115 return $coro;
116
117=item 2. Startup
118
119When a new coro thread is created, only a copy of the code reference
120and the arguments are stored, no extra memory for stacks and so on is
121allocated, keeping the coro thread in a low-memory state.
122
123Only when it actually starts executing will all the resources be finally
124allocated.
125
126The optional arguments specified at coro creation are available in C<@_>,
127similar to function calls.
128
129=item 3. Running / Blocking
130
131A lot can happen after the coro thread has started running. Quite usually,
132it will not run to the end in one go (because you could use a function
133instead), but it will give up the CPU regularly because it waits for
134external events.
135
136As long as a coro thread runs, it's coro object is available in the global
137variable C<$Coro::current>.
138
139The low-level way to give up the CPU is to call the scheduler, which
140selects a new coro thread to run:
141
142 Coro::schedule;
143
144Since running threads are not in the ready queue, calling the scheduler
145without doing anything else will block the coro thread forever - you need
146to arrange either for the coro to put woken up (readied) by some other
147event or some other thread, or you can put it into the ready queue before
148scheduling:
149
150 # this is exactly what Coro::cede does
151 $Coro::current->ready;
152 Coro::schedule;
153
154All the higher-level synchronisation methods (Coro::Semaphore,
155Coro::rouse_*...) are actually implemented via C<< ->ready >> and C<<
156Coro::schedule >>.
157
158While the coro thread is running it also might get assigned a C-level
159thread, or the C-level thread might be unassigned from it, as the Coro
160runtime wishes. A C-level thread needs to be assigned when your perl
161thread calls into some C-level function and that function in turn calls
162perl and perl then wants to switch coroutines. This happens most often
163when you run an event loop and block in the callback, or when perl
164itself calls some function such as C<AUTOLOAD> or methods via the C<tie>
165mechanism.
166
167=item 4. Termination
168
169Many threads actually terminate after some time. There are a number of
170ways to terminate a coro thread, the simplest is returning from the
171top-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
183Any 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
194Another way to terminate is to call C<< Coro::terminate >>, which at any
195subroutine call nesting level:
196
197 async {
198 Coro::terminate "return value 1", "return value 2";
199 };
200
201And yet another way is to C<< ->cancel >> (or C<< ->safe_cancel >>) the
202coro thread from another thread:
203
204 my $coro = async {
205 exit 1;
206 };
207
208 $coro->cancel; # an also accept values for ->join to retrieve
209
210Cancellation I<can> be dangerous - it's a bit like calling C<exit>
211without actually exiting, and might leave C libraries and XS modules in
212a weird state. Unlike other thread implementations, however, Coro is
213exceptionally safe with regards to cancellation, as perl will always be
214in a consistent state, and for those cases where you want to do truly
215marvellous things with your coro while it is being cancelled, there is
216even a C<< ->safe_cancel >> method.
217
218So, cancelling a thread that runs in an XS event loop might not be the
219best idea, but any other combination that deals with perl only (cancelling
220when a thread is in a C<tie> method or an C<AUTOLOAD> for example) is
221safe.
222
223=item 5. Cleanup
224
225Threads will allocate various resources. Most but not all will be returned
226when a thread terminates, during clean-up.
227
228Cleanup is quite similar to throwing an uncaught exception: perl will
229work it's way up through all subroutine calls and blocks. On it's way, it
230will release all C<my> variables, undo all C<local>'s and free any other
231resources truly local to the thread.
232
233So, a common way to free resources is to keep them referenced only by my
234variables:
235
236 async {
237 my $big_cache = new Cache ...;
238 };
239
240If there are no other references, then the C<$big_cache> object will be
241freed when the thread terminates, regardless of how it does so.
242
243What it does C<NOT> do is unlock any Coro::Semaphores or similar
244resources, but that's where the C<guard> methods come in handy:
245
246 my $sem = new Coro::Semaphore;
247
248 async {
249 my $lock_guard = $sem->guard;
250 # if we reutrn, or die or get cancelled, here,
251 # then the semaphore will be "up"ed.
252 };
253
254The C<Guard::guard> function comes in handy for any custom cleanup you
255might want to do:
256
257 async {
258 my $window = new Gtk2::Window "toplevel";
259 # The window will not be cleaned up automatically, even when $window
260 # gets freed, so use a guard to ensure it's destruction
261 # in case of an error:
262 my $window_guard = Guard::guard { $window->destroy };
263
264 # we are safe here
265 };
266
267Last not least, C<local> can often be handy, too, e.g. when temporarily
268replacing the coro thread description:
269
270 sub myfunction {
271 local $Coro::current->{desc} = "inside myfunction(@_)";
272
273 # if we return or die here, the description will be restored
274 }
275
276=item 6. Viva La Zombie Muerte
277
278Even after a thread has terminated and cleaned up it's resources, the coro
279object still is there and stores the return values of the thread. Only in
280this state will the coro object be "reference counted" in the normal perl
281sense: the thread code keeps a reference to it when it is active, but not
282after it has terminated.
283
284The means the coro object gets freed automatically when the thread has
285terminated and cleaned up and there arenot other references.
286
287If there are, the coro object will stay around, and you can call C<<
288->join >> as many times as you wish to retrieve the result values:
289
290 async {
291 print "hi\n";
292 1
293 };
294
295 # run the async above, and free everything before returning
296 # from Coro::cede:
297 Coro::cede;
298
299 {
300 my $coro = async {
301 print "hi\n";
302 1
303 };
304
305 # run the async above, and clean up, but do not free the coro
306 # object:
307 Coro::cede;
308
309 # optionally retrieve the result values
310 my @results = $coro->join;
311
312 # now $coro goes out of scope, and presumably gets freed
313 };
314
315=back
32 316
33=cut 317=cut
34 318
35package Coro; 319package Coro;
36 320
321use common::sense;
322
323use Carp ();
324
325use Guard ();
326
37use Coro::State; 327use Coro::State;
38 328
39use base Exporter; 329use base qw(Coro::State Exporter);
40 330
41$VERSION = 0.45; 331our $idle; # idle handler
332our $main; # main coro
333our $current; # current coro
42 334
43@EXPORT = qw(async cede schedule terminate current); 335our $VERSION = 5.372;
44@EXPORT_OK = qw($current);
45 336
46{ 337our @EXPORT = qw(async async_pool cede schedule terminate current unblock_sub rouse_cb rouse_wait);
47 my @async; 338our %EXPORT_TAGS = (
48 my $init; 339 prio => [qw(PRIO_MAX PRIO_HIGH PRIO_NORMAL PRIO_LOW PRIO_IDLE PRIO_MIN)],
340);
341our @EXPORT_OK = (@{$EXPORT_TAGS{prio}}, qw(nready));
49 342
50 # this way of handling attributes simply is NOT scalable ;() 343=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES
51 sub import {
52 Coro->export_to_level(1, @_);
53 my $old = *{(caller)[0]."::MODIFY_CODE_ATTRIBUTES"}{CODE};
54 *{(caller)[0]."::MODIFY_CODE_ATTRIBUTES"} = sub {
55 my ($package, $ref) = (shift, shift);
56 my @attrs;
57 for (@_) {
58 if ($_ eq "Coro") {
59 push @async, $ref;
60 unless ($init++) {
61 eval q{
62 sub INIT {
63 &async(pop @async) while @async;
64 }
65 };
66 }
67 } else {
68 push @attrs, $_;
69 }
70 }
71 return $old ? $old->($package, $ref, @attrs) : @attrs;
72 };
73 }
74 344
75} 345=over 4
76 346
77=item $main 347=item $Coro::main
78 348
79This coroutine represents the main program. 349This variable stores the Coro object that represents the main
350program. While you cna C<ready> it and do most other things you can do to
351coro, it is mainly useful to compare again C<$Coro::current>, to see
352whether you are running in the main program or not.
80 353
81=cut 354=cut
82 355
83our $main = new Coro; 356# $main is now being initialised by Coro::State
84 357
85=item $current (or as function: current) 358=item $Coro::current
86 359
87The current coroutine (the last coroutine switched to). The initial value is C<$main> (of course). 360The Coro object representing the current coro (the last
361coro that the Coro scheduler switched to). The initial value is
362C<$Coro::main> (of course).
88 363
89=cut 364This variable is B<strictly> I<read-only>. You can take copies of the
365value stored in it and use it as any other Coro object, but you must
366not otherwise modify the variable itself.
90 367
91# maybe some other module used Coro::Specific before... 368=cut
92if ($current) {
93 $main->{specific} = $current->{specific};
94}
95 369
96our $current = $main;
97
98sub current() { $current } 370sub current() { $current } # [DEPRECATED]
99 371
100=item $idle 372=item $Coro::idle
101 373
102The coroutine to switch to when no other coroutine is running. The default 374This variable is mainly useful to integrate Coro into event loops. It is
103implementation prints "FATAL: deadlock detected" and exits. 375usually better to rely on L<Coro::AnyEvent> or L<Coro::EV>, as this is
376pretty low-level functionality.
104 377
105=cut 378This variable stores a Coro object that is put into the ready queue when
379there are no other ready threads (without invoking any ready hooks).
106 380
107# should be done using priorities :( 381The default implementation dies with "FATAL: deadlock detected.", followed
382by a thread listing, because the program has no other way to continue.
383
384This hook is overwritten by modules such as C<Coro::EV> and
385C<Coro::AnyEvent> to wait on an external event that hopefully wakes up a
386coro so the scheduler can run it.
387
388See L<Coro::EV> or L<Coro::AnyEvent> for examples of using this technique.
389
390=cut
391
392# ||= because other modules could have provided their own by now
108our $idle = new Coro sub { 393$idle ||= new Coro sub {
394 require Coro::Debug;
109 print STDERR "FATAL: deadlock detected\n"; 395 die "FATAL: deadlock detected.\n"
110 exit(51); 396 . Coro::Debug::ps_listing ();
111}; 397};
112 398
113# this coroutine is necessary because a coroutine 399# this coro is necessary because a coro
114# cannot destroy itself. 400# cannot destroy itself.
115my @destroy; 401our @destroy;
402our $manager;
403
116my $manager = new Coro sub { 404$manager = new Coro sub {
117 while() { 405 while () {
118 delete ((pop @destroy)->{_coro_state}) while @destroy; 406 _destroy shift @destroy
407 while @destroy;
408
119 &schedule; 409 &schedule;
120 } 410 }
121}; 411};
412$manager->{desc} = "[coro manager]";
413$manager->prio (PRIO_MAX);
122 414
123# static methods. not really. 415=back
124 416
125=head2 STATIC METHODS 417=head1 SIMPLE CORO CREATION
126
127Static methods are actually functions that operate on the current process only.
128 418
129=over 4 419=over 4
130 420
131=item async { ... } [@args...] 421=item async { ... } [@args...]
132 422
133Create a new asynchronous process and return it's process object 423Create a new coro and return its Coro object (usually
134(usually unused). When the sub returns the new process is automatically 424unused). The coro will be put into the ready queue, so
425it will start running automatically on the next scheduler run.
426
427The first argument is a codeblock/closure that should be executed in the
428coro. When it returns argument returns the coro is automatically
135terminated. 429terminated.
136 430
431The remaining arguments are passed as arguments to the closure.
432
433See the C<Coro::State::new> constructor for info about the coro
434environment in which coro are executed.
435
436Calling C<exit> in a coro will do the same as calling exit outside
437the coro. Likewise, when the coro dies, the program will exit,
438just as it would in the main program.
439
440If you do not want that, you can provide a default C<die> handler, or
441simply avoid dieing (by use of C<eval>).
442
137 # create a new coroutine that just prints its arguments 443Example: Create a new coro that just prints its arguments.
444
138 async { 445 async {
139 print "@_\n"; 446 print "@_\n";
140 } 1,2,3,4; 447 } 1,2,3,4;
141 448
142The coderef you submit MUST NOT be a closure that refers to variables 449=item async_pool { ... } [@args...]
143in an outer scope. This does NOT work. Pass arguments into it instead.
144 450
145=cut 451Similar to C<async>, but uses a coro pool, so you should not call
452terminate or join on it (although you are allowed to), and you get a
453coro that might have executed other code already (which can be good
454or bad :).
146 455
147sub async(&@) { 456On the plus side, this function is about twice as fast as creating (and
148 my $pid = new Coro @_; 457destroying) a completely new coro, so if you need a lot of generic
149 $manager->ready; # this ensures that the stack is cloned from the manager 458coros in quick successsion, use C<async_pool>, not C<async>.
150 $pid->ready; 459
151 $pid; 460The code block is executed in an C<eval> context and a warning will be
461issued in case of an exception instead of terminating the program, as
462C<async> does. As the coro is being reused, stuff like C<on_destroy>
463will not work in the expected way, unless you call terminate or cancel,
464which somehow defeats the purpose of pooling (but is fine in the
465exceptional case).
466
467The priority will be reset to C<0> after each run, tracing will be
468disabled, the description will be reset and the default output filehandle
469gets restored, so you can change all these. Otherwise the coro will
470be re-used "as-is": most notably if you change other per-coro global
471stuff such as C<$/> you I<must needs> revert that change, which is most
472simply done by using local as in: C<< local $/ >>.
473
474The idle pool size is limited to C<8> idle coros (this can be
475adjusted by changing $Coro::POOL_SIZE), but there can be as many non-idle
476coros as required.
477
478If you are concerned about pooled coros growing a lot because a
479single C<async_pool> used a lot of stackspace you can e.g. C<async_pool
480{ terminate }> once per second or so to slowly replenish the pool. In
481addition to that, when the stacks used by a handler grows larger than 32kb
482(adjustable via $Coro::POOL_RSS) it will also be destroyed.
483
484=cut
485
486our $POOL_SIZE = 8;
487our $POOL_RSS = 32 * 1024;
488our @async_pool;
489
490sub pool_handler {
491 while () {
492 eval {
493 &{&_pool_handler} while 1;
494 };
495
496 warn $@ if $@;
497 }
152} 498}
153 499
500=back
501
502=head1 STATIC METHODS
503
504Static methods are actually functions that implicitly operate on the
505current coro.
506
507=over 4
508
154=item schedule 509=item schedule
155 510
156Calls the scheduler. Please note that the current process will not be put 511Calls the scheduler. The scheduler will find the next coro that is
512to be run from the ready queue and switches to it. The next coro
513to be run is simply the one with the highest priority that is longest
514in its ready queue. If there is no coro ready, it will call the
515C<$Coro::idle> hook.
516
517Please note that the current coro will I<not> be put into the ready
157into the ready queue, so calling this function usually means you will 518queue, so calling this function usually means you will never be called
158never be called again. 519again unless something else (e.g. an event handler) calls C<< ->ready >>,
520thus waking you up.
159 521
160=cut 522This makes C<schedule> I<the> generic method to use to block the current
523coro and wait for events: first you remember the current coro in
524a variable, then arrange for some callback of yours to call C<< ->ready
525>> on that once some event happens, and last you call C<schedule> to put
526yourself to sleep. Note that a lot of things can wake your coro up,
527so you need to check whether the event indeed happened, e.g. by storing the
528status in a variable.
529
530See B<HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK>, below, for some ways to wait for callbacks.
161 531
162=item cede 532=item cede
163 533
164"Cede" to other processes. This function puts the current process into the 534"Cede" to other coros. This function puts the current coro into
165ready queue and calls C<schedule>, which has the effect of giving up the 535the ready queue and calls C<schedule>, which has the effect of giving
166current "timeslice" to other coroutines of the same or higher priority. 536up the current "timeslice" to other coros of the same or higher
537priority. Once your coro gets its turn again it will automatically be
538resumed.
167 539
168=cut 540This function is often called C<yield> in other languages.
169 541
542=item Coro::cede_notself
543
544Works like cede, but is not exported by default and will cede to I<any>
545coro, regardless of priority. This is useful sometimes to ensure
546progress is made.
547
170=item terminate 548=item terminate [arg...]
171 549
172Terminates the current process. 550Terminates the current coro with the given status values (see
551L<cancel>). The values will not be copied, but referenced directly.
173 552
174Future versions of this function will allow result arguments. 553=item Coro::on_enter BLOCK, Coro::on_leave BLOCK
175 554
176=cut 555These function install enter and leave winders in the current scope. The
556enter block will be executed when on_enter is called and whenever the
557current coro is re-entered by the scheduler, while the leave block is
558executed whenever the current coro is blocked by the scheduler, and
559also when the containing scope is exited (by whatever means, be it exit,
560die, last etc.).
177 561
178sub terminate { 562I<Neither invoking the scheduler, nor exceptions, are allowed within those
179 $current->cancel; 563BLOCKs>. That means: do not even think about calling C<die> without an
180 &schedule; 564eval, and do not even think of entering the scheduler in any way.
181 die; # NORETURN 565
566Since both BLOCKs are tied to the current scope, they will automatically
567be removed when the current scope exits.
568
569These functions implement the same concept as C<dynamic-wind> in scheme
570does, and are useful when you want to localise some resource to a specific
571coro.
572
573They slow down thread switching considerably for coros that use them
574(about 40% for a BLOCK with a single assignment, so thread switching is
575still reasonably fast if the handlers are fast).
576
577These functions are best understood by an example: The following function
578will change the current timezone to "Antarctica/South_Pole", which
579requires a call to C<tzset>, but by using C<on_enter> and C<on_leave>,
580which remember/change the current timezone and restore the previous
581value, respectively, the timezone is only changed for the coro that
582installed those handlers.
583
584 use POSIX qw(tzset);
585
586 async {
587 my $old_tz; # store outside TZ value here
588
589 Coro::on_enter {
590 $old_tz = $ENV{TZ}; # remember the old value
591
592 $ENV{TZ} = "Antarctica/South_Pole";
593 tzset; # enable new value
594 };
595
596 Coro::on_leave {
597 $ENV{TZ} = $old_tz;
598 tzset; # restore old value
599 };
600
601 # at this place, the timezone is Antarctica/South_Pole,
602 # without disturbing the TZ of any other coro.
603 };
604
605This can be used to localise about any resource (locale, uid, current
606working directory etc.) to a block, despite the existance of other
607coros.
608
609Another interesting example implements time-sliced multitasking using
610interval timers (this could obviously be optimised, but does the job):
611
612 # "timeslice" the given block
613 sub timeslice(&) {
614 use Time::HiRes ();
615
616 Coro::on_enter {
617 # on entering the thread, we set an VTALRM handler to cede
618 $SIG{VTALRM} = sub { cede };
619 # and then start the interval timer
620 Time::HiRes::setitimer &Time::HiRes::ITIMER_VIRTUAL, 0.01, 0.01;
621 };
622 Coro::on_leave {
623 # on leaving the thread, we stop the interval timer again
624 Time::HiRes::setitimer &Time::HiRes::ITIMER_VIRTUAL, 0, 0;
625 };
626
627 &{+shift};
628 }
629
630 # use like this:
631 timeslice {
632 # The following is an endless loop that would normally
633 # monopolise the process. Since it runs in a timesliced
634 # environment, it will regularly cede to other threads.
635 while () { }
636 };
637
638
639=item killall
640
641Kills/terminates/cancels all coros except the currently running one.
642
643Note that while this will try to free some of the main interpreter
644resources if the calling coro isn't the main coro, but one
645cannot free all of them, so if a coro that is not the main coro
646calls this function, there will be some one-time resource leak.
647
648=cut
649
650sub killall {
651 for (Coro::State::list) {
652 $_->cancel
653 if $_ != $current && UNIVERSAL::isa $_, "Coro";
654 }
182} 655}
183 656
184=back 657=back
185 658
186# dynamic methods 659=head1 CORO OBJECT METHODS
187 660
188=head2 PROCESS METHODS
189
190These are the methods you can call on process objects. 661These are the methods you can call on coro objects (or to create
662them).
191 663
192=over 4 664=over 4
193 665
194=item new Coro \&sub [, @args...] 666=item new Coro \&sub [, @args...]
195 667
196Create a new process and return it. When the sub returns the process 668Create a new coro and return it. When the sub returns, the coro
197automatically terminates. To start the process you must first put it into 669automatically terminates as if C<terminate> with the returned values were
670called. To make the coro run you must first put it into the ready
198the ready queue by calling the ready method. 671queue by calling the ready method.
199 672
200The coderef you submit MUST NOT be a closure that refers to variables 673See C<async> and C<Coro::State::new> for additional info about the
201in an outer scope. This does NOT work. Pass arguments into it instead. 674coro environment.
202 675
203=cut 676=cut
204 677
205sub _newcoro { 678sub _coro_run {
206 terminate &{+shift}; 679 terminate &{+shift};
207} 680}
208 681
209sub new { 682=item $success = $coro->ready
683
684Put the given coro into the end of its ready queue (there is one
685queue for each priority) and return true. If the coro is already in
686the ready queue, do nothing and return false.
687
688This ensures that the scheduler will resume this coro automatically
689once all the coro of higher priority and all coro of the same
690priority that were put into the ready queue earlier have been resumed.
691
692=item $coro->suspend
693
694Suspends the specified coro. A suspended coro works just like any other
695coro, except that the scheduler will not select a suspended coro for
696execution.
697
698Suspending a coro can be useful when you want to keep the coro from
699running, but you don't want to destroy it, or when you want to temporarily
700freeze a coro (e.g. for debugging) to resume it later.
701
702A scenario for the former would be to suspend all (other) coros after a
703fork and keep them alive, so their destructors aren't called, but new
704coros can be created.
705
706=item $coro->resume
707
708If the specified coro was suspended, it will be resumed. Note that when
709the coro was in the ready queue when it was suspended, it might have been
710unreadied by the scheduler, so an activation might have been lost.
711
712To avoid this, it is best to put a suspended coro into the ready queue
713unconditionally, as every synchronisation mechanism must protect itself
714against spurious wakeups, and the one in the Coro family certainly do
715that.
716
717=item $is_ready = $coro->is_ready
718
719Returns true iff the Coro object is in the ready queue. Unless the Coro
720object gets destroyed, it will eventually be scheduled by the scheduler.
721
722=item $is_running = $coro->is_running
723
724Returns true iff the Coro object is currently running. Only one Coro object
725can ever be in the running state (but it currently is possible to have
726multiple running Coro::States).
727
728=item $is_suspended = $coro->is_suspended
729
730Returns true iff this Coro object has been suspended. Suspended Coros will
731not ever be scheduled.
732
733=item $coro->cancel (arg...)
734
735Terminates the given Coro thread and makes it return the given arguments as
736status (default: an empty list). Never returns if the Coro is the
737current Coro.
738
739This is a rather brutal way to free a coro, with some limitations - if
740the thread is inside a C callback that doesn't expect to be canceled,
741bad things can happen, or if the cancelled thread insists on running
742complicated cleanup handlers that rely on it'S thread context, things will
743not work.
744
745Sometimes it is safer to C<< ->throw >> an exception, or use C<<
746->safe_cancel >>.
747
748The arguments are not copied, but instead will be referenced directly
749(e.g. if you pass C<$var> and after the call change that variable, then
750you might change the return values passed to e.g. C<join>, so don't do
751that).
752
753The resources of the Coro are usually freed (or destructed) before this
754call returns, but this can be delayed for an indefinite amount of time, as
755in some cases the manager thread has to run first to actually destruct the
756Coro object.
757
758=item $coro->safe_cancel ($arg...)
759
760Works mostly like C<< ->cancel >>, but is inherently "safer", and
761consequently, can fail with an exception in cases the thread is not in a
762cancellable state.
763
764This method works a bit like throwing an exception that cannot be caught
765- specifically, it will clean up the thread from within itself, so all
766cleanup handlers (e.g. C<guard> blocks) are run with full thread context
767and can block if they wish.
768
769A thread is safe-cancellable if it either hasn't been run yet, or
770it has no C context attached and is inside an SLF function.
771
772The latter two basically mean that the thread isn't currently inside a
773perl callback called from some C function (usually XS modules) and isn't
774currently inside some C function itself.
775
776This call always returns true when it could cancel the thread, or croaks
777with an error otherwise, so you can write things like this:
778
779 if (! eval { $coro->safe_cancel }) {
780 warn "unable to cancel thread: $@";
781 }
782
783=item $coro->schedule_to
784
785Puts the current coro to sleep (like C<Coro::schedule>), but instead
786of continuing with the next coro from the ready queue, always switch to
787the given coro object (regardless of priority etc.). The readyness
788state of that coro isn't changed.
789
790This is an advanced method for special cases - I'd love to hear about any
791uses for this one.
792
793=item $coro->cede_to
794
795Like C<schedule_to>, but puts the current coro into the ready
796queue. This has the effect of temporarily switching to the given
797coro, and continuing some time later.
798
799This is an advanced method for special cases - I'd love to hear about any
800uses for this one.
801
802=item $coro->throw ([$scalar])
803
804If C<$throw> is specified and defined, it will be thrown as an exception
805inside the coro at the next convenient point in time. Otherwise
806clears the exception object.
807
808Coro will check for the exception each time a schedule-like-function
809returns, i.e. after each C<schedule>, C<cede>, C<< Coro::Semaphore->down
810>>, C<< Coro::Handle->readable >> and so on. Most of these functions
811detect this case and return early in case an exception is pending.
812
813The exception object will be thrown "as is" with the specified scalar in
814C<$@>, i.e. if it is a string, no line number or newline will be appended
815(unlike with C<die>).
816
817This can be used as a softer means than C<cancel> to ask a coro to
818end itself, although there is no guarantee that the exception will lead to
819termination, and if the exception isn't caught it might well end the whole
820program.
821
822You might also think of C<throw> as being the moral equivalent of
823C<kill>ing a coro with a signal (in this case, a scalar).
824
825=item $coro->join
826
827Wait until the coro terminates and return any values given to the
828C<terminate> or C<cancel> functions. C<join> can be called concurrently
829from multiple threads, and all will be resumed and given the status
830return once the C<$coro> terminates.
831
832=cut
833
834sub join {
210 my $class = shift; 835 my $self = shift;
211 bless { 836
212 _coro_state => (new Coro::State $_[0] && \&_newcoro, @_), 837 unless ($self->{_status}) {
213 }, $class; 838 my $current = $current;
839
840 push @{$self->{_on_destroy}}, sub {
841 $current->ready;
842 undef $current;
843 };
844
845 &schedule while $current;
846 }
847
848 wantarray ? @{$self->{_status}} : $self->{_status}[0];
214} 849}
215 850
216=item $process->ready 851=item $coro->on_destroy (\&cb)
217 852
218Put the current process into the ready queue. 853Registers a callback that is called when this coro thread gets destroyed,
854that is, after it's resources have been freed but before it is joined. The
855callback gets passed the terminate/cancel arguments, if any, and I<must
856not> die, under any circumstances.
219 857
220=cut 858There can be any number of C<on_destroy> callbacks per coro, and there is
859no way currently to remove a callback once added.
221 860
222=item $process->cancel
223
224Like C<terminate>, but terminates the specified process instead.
225
226=cut 861=cut
227 862
228sub cancel { 863sub on_destroy {
229 push @destroy, $_[0]; 864 my ($self, $cb) = @_;
230 $manager->ready; 865
866 push @{ $self->{_on_destroy} }, $cb;
231} 867}
232 868
869=item $oldprio = $coro->prio ($newprio)
870
871Sets (or gets, if the argument is missing) the priority of the
872coro thread. Higher priority coro get run before lower priority
873coros. Priorities are small signed integers (currently -4 .. +3),
874that you can refer to using PRIO_xxx constants (use the import tag :prio
875to get then):
876
877 PRIO_MAX > PRIO_HIGH > PRIO_NORMAL > PRIO_LOW > PRIO_IDLE > PRIO_MIN
878 3 > 1 > 0 > -1 > -3 > -4
879
880 # set priority to HIGH
881 current->prio (PRIO_HIGH);
882
883The idle coro thread ($Coro::idle) always has a lower priority than any
884existing coro.
885
886Changing the priority of the current coro will take effect immediately,
887but changing the priority of a coro in the ready queue (but not running)
888will only take effect after the next schedule (of that coro). This is a
889bug that will be fixed in some future version.
890
891=item $newprio = $coro->nice ($change)
892
893Similar to C<prio>, but subtract the given value from the priority (i.e.
894higher values mean lower priority, just as in UNIX's nice command).
895
896=item $olddesc = $coro->desc ($newdesc)
897
898Sets (or gets in case the argument is missing) the description for this
899coro thread. This is just a free-form string you can associate with a
900coro.
901
902This method simply sets the C<< $coro->{desc} >> member to the given
903string. You can modify this member directly if you wish, and in fact, this
904is often preferred to indicate major processing states that cna then be
905seen for example in a L<Coro::Debug> session:
906
907 sub my_long_function {
908 local $Coro::current->{desc} = "now in my_long_function";
909 ...
910 $Coro::current->{desc} = "my_long_function: phase 1";
911 ...
912 $Coro::current->{desc} = "my_long_function: phase 2";
913 ...
914 }
915
916=cut
917
918sub desc {
919 my $old = $_[0]{desc};
920 $_[0]{desc} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
921 $old;
922}
923
924sub transfer {
925 require Carp;
926 Carp::croak ("You must not call ->transfer on Coro objects. Use Coro::State objects or the ->schedule_to method. Caught");
927}
928
233=back 929=back
234 930
931=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
932
933=over 4
934
935=item Coro::nready
936
937Returns the number of coro that are currently in the ready state,
938i.e. that can be switched to by calling C<schedule> directory or
939indirectly. The value C<0> means that the only runnable coro is the
940currently running one, so C<cede> would have no effect, and C<schedule>
941would cause a deadlock unless there is an idle handler that wakes up some
942coro.
943
944=item my $guard = Coro::guard { ... }
945
946This function still exists, but is deprecated. Please use the
947C<Guard::guard> function instead.
948
235=cut 949=cut
950
951BEGIN { *guard = \&Guard::guard }
952
953=item unblock_sub { ... }
954
955This utility function takes a BLOCK or code reference and "unblocks" it,
956returning a new coderef. Unblocking means that calling the new coderef
957will return immediately without blocking, returning nothing, while the
958original code ref will be called (with parameters) from within another
959coro.
960
961The reason this function exists is that many event libraries (such as
962the venerable L<Event|Event> module) are not thread-safe (a weaker form
963of reentrancy). This means you must not block within event callbacks,
964otherwise you might suffer from crashes or worse. The only event library
965currently known that is safe to use without C<unblock_sub> is L<EV> (but
966you might still run into deadlocks if all event loops are blocked).
967
968Coro will try to catch you when you block in the event loop
969("FATAL:$Coro::IDLE blocked itself"), but this is just best effort and
970only works when you do not run your own event loop.
971
972This function allows your callbacks to block by executing them in another
973coro where it is safe to block. One example where blocking is handy
974is when you use the L<Coro::AIO|Coro::AIO> functions to save results to
975disk, for example.
976
977In short: simply use C<unblock_sub { ... }> instead of C<sub { ... }> when
978creating event callbacks that want to block.
979
980If your handler does not plan to block (e.g. simply sends a message to
981another coro, or puts some other coro into the ready queue), there is
982no reason to use C<unblock_sub>.
983
984Note that you also need to use C<unblock_sub> for any other callbacks that
985are indirectly executed by any C-based event loop. For example, when you
986use a module that uses L<AnyEvent> (and you use L<Coro::AnyEvent>) and it
987provides callbacks that are the result of some event callback, then you
988must not block either, or use C<unblock_sub>.
989
990=cut
991
992our @unblock_queue;
993
994# we create a special coro because we want to cede,
995# to reduce pressure on the coro pool (because most callbacks
996# return immediately and can be reused) and because we cannot cede
997# inside an event callback.
998our $unblock_scheduler = new Coro sub {
999 while () {
1000 while (my $cb = pop @unblock_queue) {
1001 &async_pool (@$cb);
1002
1003 # for short-lived callbacks, this reduces pressure on the coro pool
1004 # as the chance is very high that the async_poll coro will be back
1005 # in the idle state when cede returns
1006 cede;
1007 }
1008 schedule; # sleep well
1009 }
1010};
1011$unblock_scheduler->{desc} = "[unblock_sub scheduler]";
1012
1013sub unblock_sub(&) {
1014 my $cb = shift;
1015
1016 sub {
1017 unshift @unblock_queue, [$cb, @_];
1018 $unblock_scheduler->ready;
1019 }
1020}
1021
1022=item $cb = rouse_cb
1023
1024Create and return a "rouse callback". That's a code reference that,
1025when called, will remember a copy of its arguments and notify the owner
1026coro of the callback.
1027
1028See the next function.
1029
1030=item @args = rouse_wait [$cb]
1031
1032Wait for the specified rouse callback (or the last one that was created in
1033this coro).
1034
1035As soon as the callback is invoked (or when the callback was invoked
1036before C<rouse_wait>), it will return the arguments originally passed to
1037the rouse callback. In scalar context, that means you get the I<last>
1038argument, just as if C<rouse_wait> had a C<return ($a1, $a2, $a3...)>
1039statement at the end.
1040
1041See the section B<HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK> for an actual usage example.
1042
1043=back
1044
1045=cut
1046
1047for my $module (qw(Channel RWLock Semaphore SemaphoreSet Signal Specific)) {
1048 my $old = defined &{"Coro::$module\::new"} && \&{"Coro::$module\::new"};
1049
1050 *{"Coro::$module\::new"} = sub {
1051 require "Coro/$module.pm";
1052
1053 # some modules have their new predefined in State.xs, some don't
1054 *{"Coro::$module\::new"} = $old
1055 if $old;
1056
1057 goto &{"Coro::$module\::new"};
1058 };
1059}
236 1060
2371; 10611;
238 1062
1063=head1 HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK
1064
1065It is very common for a coro to wait for some callback to be
1066called. This occurs naturally when you use coro in an otherwise
1067event-based program, or when you use event-based libraries.
1068
1069These typically register a callback for some event, and call that callback
1070when the event occured. In a coro, however, you typically want to
1071just wait for the event, simplyifying things.
1072
1073For example C<< AnyEvent->child >> registers a callback to be called when
1074a specific child has exited:
1075
1076 my $child_watcher = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub { ... });
1077
1078But from within a coro, you often just want to write this:
1079
1080 my $status = wait_for_child $pid;
1081
1082Coro offers two functions specifically designed to make this easy,
1083C<Coro::rouse_cb> and C<Coro::rouse_wait>.
1084
1085The first function, C<rouse_cb>, generates and returns a callback that,
1086when invoked, will save its arguments and notify the coro that
1087created the callback.
1088
1089The second function, C<rouse_wait>, waits for the callback to be called
1090(by calling C<schedule> to go to sleep) and returns the arguments
1091originally passed to the callback.
1092
1093Using these functions, it becomes easy to write the C<wait_for_child>
1094function mentioned above:
1095
1096 sub wait_for_child($) {
1097 my ($pid) = @_;
1098
1099 my $watcher = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => Coro::rouse_cb);
1100
1101 my ($rpid, $rstatus) = Coro::rouse_wait;
1102 $rstatus
1103 }
1104
1105In the case where C<rouse_cb> and C<rouse_wait> are not flexible enough,
1106you can roll your own, using C<schedule>:
1107
1108 sub wait_for_child($) {
1109 my ($pid) = @_;
1110
1111 # store the current coro in $current,
1112 # and provide result variables for the closure passed to ->child
1113 my $current = $Coro::current;
1114 my ($done, $rstatus);
1115
1116 # pass a closure to ->child
1117 my $watcher = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
1118 $rstatus = $_[1]; # remember rstatus
1119 $done = 1; # mark $rstatus as valud
1120 });
1121
1122 # wait until the closure has been called
1123 schedule while !$done;
1124
1125 $rstatus
1126 }
1127
1128
239=head1 BUGS/LIMITATIONS 1129=head1 BUGS/LIMITATIONS
240 1130
241 - could be faster, especially when the core would introduce special 1131=over 4
242 support for coroutines (like it does for threads). 1132
243 - there is still a memleak on coroutine termination that I could not 1133=item fork with pthread backend
244 identify. Could be as small as a single SV. 1134
245 - this module is not well-tested. 1135When Coro is compiled using the pthread backend (which isn't recommended
246 - if variables or arguments "disappear" (become undef) or become 1136but required on many BSDs as their libcs are completely broken), then
247 corrupted please contact the author so he cen iron out the 1137coro will not survive a fork. There is no known workaround except to
248 remaining bugs. 1138fix your libc and use a saner backend.
249 - this module is not thread-safe. You must only ever use this module from 1139
250 the same thread (this requirement might be loosened in the future to 1140=item perl process emulation ("threads")
1141
1142This module is not perl-pseudo-thread-safe. You should only ever use this
1143module from the first thread (this requirement might be removed in the
251 allow per-thread schedulers, but Coro::State does not yet allow this). 1144future to allow per-thread schedulers, but Coro::State does not yet allow
1145this). I recommend disabling thread support and using processes, as having
1146the windows process emulation enabled under unix roughly halves perl
1147performance, even when not used.
1148
1149=item coro switching is not signal safe
1150
1151You must not switch to another coro from within a signal handler (only
1152relevant with %SIG - most event libraries provide safe signals), I<unless>
1153you are sure you are not interrupting a Coro function.
1154
1155That means you I<MUST NOT> call any function that might "block" the
1156current coro - C<cede>, C<schedule> C<< Coro::Semaphore->down >> or
1157anything that calls those. Everything else, including calling C<ready>,
1158works.
1159
1160=back
1161
1162
1163=head1 WINDOWS PROCESS EMULATION
1164
1165A great many people seem to be confused about ithreads (for example, Chip
1166Salzenberg called me unintelligent, incapable, stupid and gullible,
1167while in the same mail making rather confused statements about perl
1168ithreads (for example, that memory or files would be shared), showing his
1169lack of understanding of this area - if it is hard to understand for Chip,
1170it is probably not obvious to everybody).
1171
1172What follows is an ultra-condensed version of my talk about threads in
1173scripting languages given on the perl workshop 2009:
1174
1175The so-called "ithreads" were originally implemented for two reasons:
1176first, to (badly) emulate unix processes on native win32 perls, and
1177secondly, to replace the older, real thread model ("5.005-threads").
1178
1179It does that by using threads instead of OS processes. The difference
1180between processes and threads is that threads share memory (and other
1181state, such as files) between threads within a single process, while
1182processes do not share anything (at least not semantically). That
1183means that modifications done by one thread are seen by others, while
1184modifications by one process are not seen by other processes.
1185
1186The "ithreads" work exactly like that: when creating a new ithreads
1187process, all state is copied (memory is copied physically, files and code
1188is copied logically). Afterwards, it isolates all modifications. On UNIX,
1189the same behaviour can be achieved by using operating system processes,
1190except that UNIX typically uses hardware built into the system to do this
1191efficiently, while the windows process emulation emulates this hardware in
1192software (rather efficiently, but of course it is still much slower than
1193dedicated hardware).
1194
1195As mentioned before, loading code, modifying code, modifying data
1196structures and so on is only visible in the ithreads process doing the
1197modification, not in other ithread processes within the same OS process.
1198
1199This is why "ithreads" do not implement threads for perl at all, only
1200processes. What makes it so bad is that on non-windows platforms, you can
1201actually take advantage of custom hardware for this purpose (as evidenced
1202by the forks module, which gives you the (i-) threads API, just much
1203faster).
1204
1205Sharing data is in the i-threads model is done by transfering data
1206structures between threads using copying semantics, which is very slow -
1207shared data simply does not exist. Benchmarks using i-threads which are
1208communication-intensive show extremely bad behaviour with i-threads (in
1209fact, so bad that Coro, which cannot take direct advantage of multiple
1210CPUs, is often orders of magnitude faster because it shares data using
1211real threads, refer to my talk for details).
1212
1213As summary, i-threads *use* threads to implement processes, while
1214the compatible forks module *uses* processes to emulate, uhm,
1215processes. I-threads slow down every perl program when enabled, and
1216outside of windows, serve no (or little) practical purpose, but
1217disadvantages every single-threaded Perl program.
1218
1219This is the reason that I try to avoid the name "ithreads", as it is
1220misleading as it implies that it implements some kind of thread model for
1221perl, and prefer the name "windows process emulation", which describes the
1222actual use and behaviour of it much better.
252 1223
253=head1 SEE ALSO 1224=head1 SEE ALSO
254 1225
255L<Coro::Channel>, L<Coro::Cont>, L<Coro::Specific>, L<Coro::Semaphore>, 1226Event-Loop integration: L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
256L<Coro::Signal>, L<Coro::State>, L<Coro::Event>, L<Coro::RWLock>, 1227
257L<Coro::Handle>, L<Coro::Socket>. 1228Debugging: L<Coro::Debug>.
1229
1230Support/Utility: L<Coro::Specific>, L<Coro::Util>.
1231
1232Locking and IPC: L<Coro::Signal>, L<Coro::Channel>, L<Coro::Semaphore>,
1233L<Coro::SemaphoreSet>, L<Coro::RWLock>.
1234
1235I/O and Timers: L<Coro::Timer>, L<Coro::Handle>, L<Coro::Socket>, L<Coro::AIO>.
1236
1237Compatibility with other modules: L<Coro::LWP> (but see also L<AnyEvent::HTTP> for
1238a better-working alternative), L<Coro::BDB>, L<Coro::Storable>,
1239L<Coro::Select>.
1240
1241XS API: L<Coro::MakeMaker>.
1242
1243Low level Configuration, Thread Environment, Continuations: L<Coro::State>.
258 1244
259=head1 AUTHOR 1245=head1 AUTHOR
260 1246
261 Marc Lehmann <pcg@goof.com> 1247 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
262 http://www.goof.com/pcg/marc/ 1248 http://home.schmorp.de/
263 1249
264=cut 1250=cut
265 1251

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