Re: multi-threaded Emacs

[joakim@verona.se]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@IRO.UMontreal.CA> writes:

>> solution, what I would like to optimize using threads is I/O bound and a
>> concurrent model can do it only in part.  If an Elisp primitive is
>> waiting for some data from a file or a socket, Emacs will hang until it
>> is ready.  This problem can't be solved by concurrent threads that will
>
> Actually, no: while Emacs is waiting for socket data, it can already run
> other async code, such as process filters.
>
> So we can solve most I/O bound problems just by using a very coarse
> notion of concurrency.  We already partly do it, except we're currently
> limited to a single stack, which makes coding painful and prevents some
> useful cases.
>
> Providing a cooperative threading model will remove this problem.  But,
> no it's not a "final solution": I hope there never will be a final
> solution, because Emacs will always need to evolve.

Beautifully put.

>
>         Stefan
>
-- 
Joakim Verona