[MUD-Dev] Re: Multi-threaded mudding (was a flamefest)

[Jon A. Lambert]

> From: Jeff Kesselman <jeffk at tenetwork.com>
> Subject: [MUD-Dev]  Re: Multi-threaded mudding (was a flamefest)
> 
Hmm, Deja Vu .. someone just took me to task on rgma on this point.
Alittle more xposting pasted in here too..

First a little more background on where I was trying to go here.

It was the contended that event-driven servers could be done
in a single-threaded and a multi-threaded environment.

No argument with this here. 
  
One side argues that multi-threading will buy you nothing.
The other side arguing that it will perform better.
 
> >I believe whether you use OS-supplied threading or your 
> >application simulates threading makes no difference.
>
By "no difference" , I really mean that one or the other MUST be
done for you to be truly "event-driven", practicalities aside for the 
moment.
 
> Well, no classification differebnce. A very real practical difference.
> Systems that use OS-threading can take advantage of hardware such as
> multi-processors.  Applciaiton implemented threading generally can not.

Exactly. 

The implication is, if my definition of event-driven systems is correct,
program control MUST be external to the procedural code of the events 
for a server to be truly "event-driven".

Can it be done with a single-threaded 'dispatcher/monitor'?  Certainly.
If OS multi-threading is superior to software time-slicing on your platform
then it would follow, that a multi-threaded event-driven server would
outperform a single-threaded event-driven server regardless of 
how many CPUs your processor has.  

Are there any faults with this logic?

> 
> Whelpers, ColdC is an object opriented event driven semi-tjhreaded
> (applciation threads) system...

Based on my definition of "event-driven", Cold would NOT classify.
It does have a 'dispatcher' which simulates time-slicing, 
yet it doesn't dispatch events.  It only partially approaches this at the 
network level only.  

BTW, if you think me too critical of Cold, its only because I like it
a lot.  I'm funny this way. :-)

JL