[dmd-concurrency] composability

[Kevin Bealer]

On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 11:05 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu <andrei at erdani.com>wrote:

> Benjamin Shropshire wrote:
>
>> Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>>
>>> Benjamin Shropshire wrote:
>>>
>>>> OTOH that is just another form of the CAS 2 vs CAS 3 problem. The system
>>>> only works if you have the right abstractions.
>>>>
>>>
>>> What do you mean by CAS 2 and CAS 3?
>>>
>>>
>> The problem Kevin cited of their being 1 and 2 word CAS ops, but no 3 word
>> CAS, and if their was a 3 word CAS, then there not being a 4 word CAS. My
>> point being that you will end up always with some case being just out of
>> reach.
>>
>
> The good news is that CAS is all we need. True, it's not easy...
>
>
> Andrei
>
> _______________________________________________
> dmd-concurrency mailing list
> dmd-concurrency at puremagic.com
> http://lists.puremagic.com/mailman/listinfo/dmd-concurrency
>

I think there are two camps here.  One is the academic / mathematical camp,
that loves to tackle the "it's not easy but theory says it's possible."  The
second camp is the "what are the best practices?" camp that doesn't own a
microscope but looks at trade-offs between known designs.  Sort of the
'scientists' and the 'engineers'.

The scientists usually fall into the role of studying fluid dynamics with an
eye toward discovering the trick to making the new and experimental but
elusive frictionless pipe.  The Engineers tend to study building codes and
grunge through installing plumbing most of the time, with an eye toward
becoming inventors or businessmen.  Most of the industry ends up playing the
'engineer' role.

Personally I like tackling the "it's not easy" problems, or at least reading
about them and pondering.  But what I'd ideally want to make sure is that
both camps have a language they can work with.  That way, when the
scientists discover the new breakthrough in fluid dynamics, it's more likely
to be compatible with the toilets and dishwashers that everyone already has.

(Okay, I clearly need sleep.)

Kevin
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.puremagic.com/pipermail/dmd-concurrency/attachments/20100107/92677a19/attachment.htm>