Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 22 Jul 1997 22:34:05 -0600 (MDT) | From | Teunis Peters <> | Subject | ... a comment on threads.... |
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On Tue, 22 Jul 1997, Theodore Y. Ts'o wrote:
> (Insert standard claim about why I think threads are a bad idea for most > application programs; there are plenty of kernel programmers have a hard > time writing thread-safe kernel code --- and we expect *application* > programmers to be able to get this stuff right? It's like handing a > loaded .45 to a chimpanzee and hoping he won't shoot himself or others > while he's playing with it. :-) > > (Yes, I know sometimes you need threads for performance reasons; but you > better have someone who really knows what they are doing, and the times > when you need threads are much rarer than you think.)
100% of time with realtime or Java-style coding. A real performance boost to X [if done properly]. though if someone NEEDS threads [other than Java], they play with fire!
[speaking of one who LIKES playing with fire :]
You don't solve this by preventing application programmers from coding threads.... you solve this by having thread-safe libraries or by making thread creation/control very esoteric :)
So where do I find out how to make my multithreaded X/Java/OpenGL system SMP-safe? <grin> [idle boast - it can handle a couple of X/OpenGL commands and it's Java interface is pure native-code only... and incomplete at that].
Come to think of it, there's something of a lack of info on how to thread-safe an app in linux (though the Thread-FAQ was very nice :)... .... or maybe I should just ask : Is there anything I should know about dealing with threads, locks, et al when dealing with SMP linux? [I _DON'T_ have an SMP machine]
TIA and have a nice day :) - Teunis
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