Cpython optimization

[MRAB]

Olof Bjarnason wrote:
[snip]
> A short question after having read through most of this thread, on the 
> same subject (time-optimizing CPython):
> 
> http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2007-September/098964.html
> 
> We are experiencing multi-core processor kernels more and more these 
> days. But they are all still connected to the main memory, right?
> 
> To me that means, even though some algorithm can be split up into 
> several threads that run on different cores of the processor, that any 
> algorithm will be memory-speed limited. And memory access is a quite 
> common operation for most algorithms.
> 
> Then one could ask oneself: what is the point of multiple cores, if 
> memory bandwidth is the bottleneck? Specifically, what makes one expect 
> any speed gain from parallelizing a sequential algorithm into four 
> threads, say, when the memory shuffling is the same speed in both 
> scenarios? (Assuming memory access is much slower than ADDs, JMPs and 
> such instructions - a quite safe assumption I presume)
> 
> [ If every core had it's own primary memory, the situation would be 
> different. It would be more like the situation in a distributed/internet 
> based system, spread over several computers. One could view each core as 
> a separate computer actually ]
> 
Don't forget about the on-chip cache! :-)