[squeak-dev] Re: [Pharo-project] [Vm-dev] Re: Can OSProcess functionality be implemented using FFI instead of plugin?

Levente Uzonyi leves at caesar.elte.hu
Sun Jan 17 15:30:44 UTC 2016


On Sat, 16 Jan 2016, Eliot Miranda wrote:

> 
> 
> On Sat, Jan 16, 2016 at 4:37 PM, Levente Uzonyi <leves at caesar.elte.hu> wrote:
>
>       On Sat, 16 Jan 2016, Mariano Martinez Peck wrote:
>
>       (Still no quote.)
>
>       How will you read the output of the process without having your image's process blocked in the FFI callout?
>       How will you make sure that writes to input of the process won't block the FFI callout?
> 
> 
> This presupposes the threaded FFI.  The threaded FFI allows the VM to make any number of blocking calls, adding a new thread to run the VM whenever the VM is stalled when the heartbeat beats.  hence one can freely read and write to/from i/o blocking i/o streams
> (including pipes and sockets) or blocking database connexions, etc, all without stating that the FFI call must be done in a special way, since all calls through the FFI can block without blocking the VM.

I think it was you who said (in a discussion with Craig) that the threaded 
FFI was not production ready. Is it ready for produciton now?

Levente

> 
> Note that the scheme is also amenable to plugins, but the plugins must be rewritten to include the release vm/acquire vm calls around a blocking call.  With the threaded VM the FFI includes these calls around every FFI call.
> 
> HTH
> _,,,^..^,,,_
> best, Eliot
> 
>


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