On 2004.08.17, Zoran Vasiljevic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The thing is: you may couple tclhttpd with some db-libraries > plus Tcl threading extension and get more-less a fully functional, > performant multi-threaded webserver in no-time.
> Yet, we still use AS. The question is: why? Unless that was meant to be a rhetorical question, I'd like to hear your answer to the question. Why do I use AOLserver? Because, essentially, someone ELSE has coupled the Tcl interpreter with an HTTP server, a DB API, Tcl threading extensions, and has tested the whole combination to some degree -- so that I didn't have to. To do so myself, from scratch, would be a large investment in time and effort which would unnecessarily duplicate the efforts of others. With the speed-ups in Tcl itself through optimizations, the performance of pure Tcl solutions will gradually improve. The ease of Tcl development usually outweighs the performance gained by a C solution. I see two "classes" of people using AOLserver for implementing non-HTTP servers: 1) Low to medium performance requirements, short development timeline, need for rapid development, programmers with low to average technical expertise. 2) High performance requirements, highly skilled programmers, moderate development timeline, scalability a major concern. For class #1, a pure Tcl solution should be more than adequate for even the production implementation. For class #2, you're arguing that these people can justify the investment of writing and maintaining C code running in AOLserver? I'm arguing that with the advances in Tcl's performance today, it may be unnecessary to implement as many things in C today as it used to be a year or more ago. In a nutshell: I am guessing that any project whose performance requirements for a non-HTTP server are truly high enough to require a C-based solution will not work even if shoehorned into AOLserver, even with the two patches that have been proposed now. I could very well be wrong. If someone is interested in finding an off-the-shelf, or implementing from scratch, a load generator for one of these non-HTTP protocols (say, SMTP) ... I'd like to have a bake-off. Implemented in pure Tcl, and implemented using one of the two proposed patches. Then, benchmark the two and see if there's a measurable difference. > Let other people speak-up and we'll see the consensus. > Then, we may act accordingly. Certainly. My own input into the discussion shouldn't preclude others from participating. However, I tend to believe that my opinion also counts and deserves to be voiced along with everyone else's for consideration. -- Dossy -- Dossy Shiobara mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Panoptic Computer Network web: http://www.panoptic.com/ "He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own folly -- then you can let go and quickly move on." (p. 70) -- AOLserver - http://www.aolserver.com/ To Remove yourself from this list, simply send an email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with the body of "SIGNOFF AOLSERVER" in the email message. You can leave the Subject: field of your email blank.
