Re: threads in general

On Thu, Nov 11, 1999 at 09:27:25PM +0000, Alan Burlison wrote:
> Ed Peschko wrote:
> 
> > I'm sort of curious about the discussion (threads on solaris) - Chip has
> > publicly stated (I believe) that threads will *not* be supported in topaz.
> > Someone correct me if this statement is wrong, but doesn't this mean that
> > any work on threading will just make the upgrade path from perl5 to perl6 more
> > difficult?
> 
> Personally I'm far from convinced of the utility/stability/practicality
> of threads in perl5.  IMHO its virtually impossible to retrofit threads
> to existing software without either crippling performance or leaving
> gaping holes in the system.  I voted strongly against them in the first
> place, but I was overruled the majority decision - which is fair enough.

Ditto.

> The only chance we have of getting a robust and scalable threaded perl
> is if they are put in from the ground floor up, i.e. in Topaz, which if
> you are correct isn't going to happen anyway.

I think Chip, quite sanely, favors the thread-per-interpreter model.
And I think that's what perl5 will end up with.

Tim.