[Python-Dev] Looking for master thesis ideas involving Python
Brett C.
bac at OCF.Berkeley.EDU
Wed Oct 29 20:38:05 EST 2003
Dennis Allison wrote:
> 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. Is there another approach which would allow processing to
> continue? Guido said once that there was an attempt to change the
> granularity of the locking, but that it quickly became overly complex and
> unstable. Perhaps some of Maurice Herlihy's ideas may be adapted to the
> problem. Moreover, it may not be necessary that the interpreter state be
> consistent and deterministic all the time as long as it eventually
> produces the same answer as a deterministic equivalent. There may be
> interpreter organizations which move forward optimistically, ignoring
> potential locking problems and then (if necessary) recoveri, and these
> may have better performance than the more conservative ones. Or they may
> not. Some kind of performance tests and evaluations would need to be
> part of any such study.
>
As you said, Dennis, this might be too big for a masters thesis. But it
definitely would be nice to have solved. I will definitely think about it.
-Brett
More information about the Python-Dev
mailing list