[Python-Dev] Looking for master thesis ideas involving Python

[Dennis Allison]

Measuring the size of a project is difficult.  This one would require (I
think) some significant out-of-the-box thinking.  There are a number of
resource which could be brought to bear in addition to Herlihy's work on
synchronization, for example, Kourosh Gharachorloo's work on programming
for the Stanford Dash MP where he toyed with the issues involved with
building synchronization independent (that is, lock independent)
programs.

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003, Delaney, Timothy C (Timothy) wrote:

> > From: Dennis Allison [mailto:allison at sumeru.stanford.EDU]
> > 
> > How about re-engineering the interpreter to make it more MP friendly?
> > (This is probably a bigger task than a Masters thesis.)  The current
> > interpreter serializes on the global interpreter lock (GIL) and blocks
> > everything.
> 
> To me this would probably be the most interesting thing to tackle - especially since it has been tried before with partial success but overall failure. At the very least that gives a body of work which you can refer to both as a starting point for your work, and to show how your approach differs from and improves on existing work.
> 
> It would also be of tremendous value to Python IMO if it could be done without negatively impacting performance on single-processor machines.
> 
> Whether it is too large for a Masters thesis I don't know. Does a Masters thesis require *success* in the stated goal? I've been thinking about doing my own Masters in the not-too-distant future if I can find the time ...
> 
> Tim Delaney
> 
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