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authorSamuel Williams <samuel.williams@oriontransfer.co.nz>2020-12-22 10:55:29 +1300
committerSamuel Williams <samuel.williams@oriontransfer.co.nz>2020-12-22 23:51:02 +1300
commit93a56a5e98875ed619fe5c29f401a8a43632dbed (patch)
tree3da57eeba5796cfc832133c4ae992ad434b1cf13 /doc
parentedb76e8765b7f165237c8ca6155cff1cc0f18cf9 (diff)
downloadruby-93a56a5e98875ed619fe5c29f401a8a43632dbed.tar.gz
Update fiber scheduler documentation.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
-rw-r--r--doc/fiber.md (renamed from doc/scheduler.md)83
1 files changed, 68 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/doc/scheduler.md b/doc/fiber.md
index a6e2d78224..7a1580a048 100644
--- a/doc/scheduler.md
+++ b/doc/fiber.md
@@ -1,4 +1,34 @@
-# Scheduler
+# Fiber
+
+Fibers provide a mechanism for cooperative concurrency.
+
+## Context Switching
+
+Fibers execute a user-provided block. During the execution, the block may call `Fiber.yield` or `Fiber.transfer` to switch to another fiber. `Fiber#resume` is used to continue execution from the point where `Fiber.yield` was called.
+
+``` ruby
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+puts "1: Start program."
+
+f = Fiber.new do
+ puts "3: Entered fiber."
+ Fiber.yield
+ puts "5: Resumed fiber."
+end
+
+puts "2: Resume fiber first time."
+f.resume
+
+puts "4: Resume fiber second time."
+f.resume
+
+puts "6: Finished."
+```
+
+This program demonstrates the flow control of fibers.
+
+## Scheduler
The scheduler interface is used to intercept blocking operations. A typical
implementation would be a wrapper for a gem like `EventMachine` or `Async`. This
@@ -6,11 +36,23 @@ design provides separation of concerns between the event loop implementation
and application code. It also allows for layered schedulers which can perform
instrumentation.
-## Interface
+To set the scheduler for the current thread:
+
+``` ruby
+Fiber.set_schduler(MyScheduler.new)
+```
+
+When the thread exits, there is an implicit call to `set_scheduler`:
+
+``` ruby
+Fiber.set_scheduler(nil)
+```
+
+### Interface
This is the interface you need to implement.
-~~~ ruby
+``` ruby
class Scheduler
# Wait for the specified process ID to exit.
# This hook is optional.
@@ -67,23 +109,23 @@ class Scheduler
# Implement event loop here.
end
end
-~~~
+```
Additional hooks may be introduced in the future, we will use feature detection
in order to enable these hooks.
-## Non-blocking Execution
+### Non-blocking Execution
The scheduler hooks will only be used in special non-blocking execution
contexts. Non-blocking execution contexts introduce non-determinism because the
execution of scheduler hooks may introduce context switching points into your
program.
-### Fibers
+#### Fibers
Fibers can be used to create non-blocking execution contexts.
-~~~ ruby
+``` ruby
Fiber.new do
puts Fiber.current.blocking? # false
@@ -96,43 +138,54 @@ Fiber.new do
# Will invoke `Fiber.scheduler&.kernel_sleep`.
sleep(n)
end.resume
-~~~
+```
We also introduce a new method which simplifies the creation of these
non-blocking fibers:
-~~~ ruby
+``` ruby
Fiber.schedule do
puts Fiber.current.blocking? # false
end
-~~~
+```
The purpose of this method is to allow the scheduler to internally decide the
policy for when to start the fiber, and whether to use symmetric or asymmetric
fibers.
-### IO
+You can also create blocking execution contexts:
+
+``` ruby
+Fiber.new(blocking: true) do
+ # Won't use the scheduler:
+ sleep(n)
+end
+```
+
+However you should generally avoid this unless you are implementing a scheduler.
+
+#### IO
By default, I/O is non-blocking. Not all operating systems support non-blocking
I/O. Windows is a notable example where socket I/O can be non-blocking but pipe
I/O is blocking. Provided that there *is* a scheduler and the current thread *is
non-blocking*, the operation will invoke the scheduler.
-### Mutex
+#### Mutex
The `Mutex` class can be used in a non-blocking context and is fiber specific.
-### ConditionVariable
+#### ConditionVariable
The `ConditionVariable` class can be used in a non-blocking context and is
fiber-specific.
-### Queue / SizedQueue
+#### Queue / SizedQueue
The `Queue` and `SizedQueue` classses can be used in a non-blocking context and
are fiber-specific.
-### Thread
+#### Thread
The `Thread#join` operation can be used in a non-blocking context and is
fiber-specific.