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comp.lang.ruby

Re: Very interesting paper about future programming models

Michael Neumann

2/12/2007 10:15:00 AM

Benjohn Barnes wrote:

>
> On 11 Feb 2007, at 20:09, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
>
>> I'll invoke Arthur C. Clarke's laws: "When a distinguished but
>> elderly scientist says something is impossible, he is usually
>> proven wrong. When he says something is possible, he is usually
>> proven right." I don't know how distinguished I am -- after all, I
>> don't even have a PhD -- but I think I have the elderly part down. :)
>
> Quite so :)
>
> Having not even read the piece...
>
> I was following up on Software Transactional Memory from an earlier
> Ruby Talk posting, and that looks extremely promising.

Have you read this thread on Software Transactional Memory?

http://patricklogan.blogspot.com/2007/02/misguided-road-not-to-be-trav...

It's about the downsides of STM.

Regards,

Michael
2 Answers

benjohn

2/14/2007 2:29:00 PM

0

> Benjohn Barnes wrote:
>
>>
>> On 11 Feb 2007, at 20:09, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
>>
>>> I'll invoke Arthur C. Clarke's laws: "When a distinguished but
>>> elderly scientist says something is impossible, he is usually
>>> proven wrong. When he says something is possible, he is usually
>>> proven right." I don't know how distinguished I am -- after all, I
>>> don't even have a PhD -- but I think I have the elderly part down. :)
>>
>> Quite so :)
>>
>> Having not even read the piece...
>>
>> I was following up on Software Transactional Memory from an earlier
>> Ruby Talk posting, and that looks extremely promising.
>
> Have you read this thread on Software Transactional Memory?
>
> http://patricklogan.blogspot.com/2007/02/misguided-road-not-to-be-trav...
>
> It's about the downsides of STM.

Fantastic! :) I'd like something to temper my enthusiasm.

benjohn

2/14/2007 3:56:00 PM

0

> Have you read this thread on Software Transactional Memory?
>
> http://patricklogan.blogspot.com/2007/02/misguided-road-not-to-be-trav...

Well, I've had a browse, and it mostly seems to be a rant on the style
of, 'I don't like it, it sounds dangerous, ooooo, it's horrible, look at
it! These other people don't like it either!', without (that I've found
yet) a clear statement of why.

The main objection seems to be that software will end up being a mess of
shared state that many process are franstically writing too, but that
just seems like really bad design to me. Asynchronus message queues, it
suggests, are a better option.

I get the feel that there is a "holy war" between a functional approach,
and an imperitive approach here, somewhere. I'll need to read it more
closely, because that sounds interesting. I don't yet see why STM
shouldn't be highly functional though (I personally like functional a
lot).

Cheers,
Benjohn