Re: [Algorithms] General purpose task parallel threading approach

[Jon W. <jw...@gm...>]

asy...@gm... wrote:
> When a task gets blocked by a dependency, worker thread can start 
> executing other tasks recursively.
>

So, in my world, I know what dependencies a task has before that task is 
started. Thus, I can prove that the task will not block, and thus no 
recursion (or additional stacks) necessary. The trade-off is that new 
dependencies can be introduced, but not synchronized, until after the 
current task invocation ends. The benefit is that scheduling can be a 
lot smarter, and the requirements for running a task are known and can 
be bounded (very important in embedded and otherwise limited environments).

And, because tasks do not block while executing, this also means that 
there are no extra context switches -- each task gets switched in; 
that's the extent of switching. Thus, slightly less pressure on the 
context switcher (but optimizing switching is still worthwhile, up to a 
point).

Sincerely,

jw