John Zabroski wrote: > We have also yet to put into practice languages which limit the client > run-time of an algorithm on a server (assuming the client can > parameterize over the server's service in some disciplined way). > > Solving this problem will eliminate virtually all IT jobs.
Thanks for being provocative. In my turn, I think everything but your last sentence is correct. Google engineers have said that a key design parameter for their services is the cost of instructions in kilowatt-hours. So the problem may be less about idle cycles than about wasted cycles such as context switches, inefficient algorithms and compiler optimization. Meanwhile, I suspect servers for interactive services are rarely more than 90% idle. So I would suggest that efficient scheduling and request run-time limits are important economic and environmental problems to solve, but the solutions are unlikely to eliminate many digital tech jobs, as it is unlikely to benefit society by more than the equivalent of two Moore's law doubling cycles. That is a huge prize, but not the end of the world as we know it. My 2 farthings. David _______________________________________________ fonc mailing list [email protected] http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc
