Why would you want a single thread to span CPUs, when that's what
multi-threading is for, and that modern operating systems will
automatically load balance threads between CPUs. I suppose I could be
missing the point, and I didn't even see the original post, but it
strikes me as a concept that has arisen more from a lack of information
than actual need. Want to take advantage of multiple CPUs, use more than
one thread. You don't have to manually tell a thread to use multiple
processors, that's the job of the OS. Keep in mind that each thread also
adds some overhead all on its own, so you wouldn't want to spawn an
inordinate number of them, but that has a lot more to do with testing
and optimizing than adding anything to RB.
Re-reading the original message that was quoted, I also want to mention
that I think it's asking a lot, as in too much, to have a For Each loop
automatically span processors. Way too easy to end up with race
conditions, massive thread overhead, and I'm sure a bunch of other
problems. If you have an enormous For Each loop, with a bunch of tasks
that do TOTALLY unrelated tasks, then just have those tasks encapsulated
in a thread, and run that thread in your loop. If you have data
operations that rely on the results of previous data operations, then
make sure that you're using some method of thread syncing, such as a mutex.
If you want some more reading on threads, I'd start here:
http://www.nicemice.net/amc/os-prelim/summaries/intro-threads.var
Then poke about the internet, and I'm sure the other RB posts.
I freely admit I may be totally wrong, but currently I don't think so.
Later,
Fargo
Daniel Stenning wrote:
Just to add - I personally see this feature as being far more important
than Cocoa in the short term. It is something that many of us ( those of
use that have apps using very processor intensive code ) could gain from
immediately.
On 8/11/06 15:40, "Daniel Stenning" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
With all the new multiple CPU Mac and PC models available these days, in
order be able to take any advantage of this in RB we need some new language
constructs and compiler amendments.
If you think this would be a useful addition to RB in the future please sign
on to the following feature request posting:
http://www.realsoftware.com/feedback/viewreport.php?reportid=mkxoxbzc
For example a prime candidate would be to make changes to the thread
facilility, as well as language changes to allow FOR EACH to spread tasks
across CPUS. Naturally every developer will need to be aware of and take
account of the limitations and issues surrounding parallel threading etc,
but at least give us the tools to start using this.
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