IO::Lambda::Thread(3)

NAME
IO::Lambda::Thread - wait for blocking code using threads

DESCRIPTION
The module implements a lambda wrapper that allows to asynchronously wait for a blocking code. The wrapping is done so that the code is executed in another thread's context. "IO::Lambda::Thread" provides bidirectional communication between threads, that is based on a shared socket between parent and child threads. The socket can be also used by the caller for its own needs, if necessary ( see IO::Lambda::Message ).

SYNOPSIS
    use IO::Lambda qw(:lambda);
    use IO::Lambda::Thread qw(threaded);

    lambda {
        context 0.1, threaded {
              sleep(1);
              return "hello!";
        };
        any_tail {
            if ( @_) {
                print "done: ", $_[0]-> peek, "\n";
            } else {
                print "not yet\n";
                again;
            }
        };
    }-> wait;

API

new_thread ( $options = (), $code, $pass_socket, @param) -> ($thread, $socket)
    A special replacement for "thread-> create", that not only creates a thread, but also creates a socket between the parent and child threads. The socket is important for getting an asynchronous notification when the child thread has finished, because there is no portable way to get that signal otherwise. That means that this socket must be closed and the thread must be "join"'ed to avoid problems. For example:

        my ( $thread, $reader) = new_thread( $sub {
            my $writer = shift;
            print $writer, "Hello world!\n";
        }, 1 );
        print while <$reader>;
        close($reader);
        $thread-> join;

    Note that "join" is a blocking call, so one needs to be sure that the thread indeed is finished before joining it. By default, the child thread closes its side of the socket, thus making the parent side readable. However, the child code can also hijack the socket for its own needs, so if that functionality is needed, one must create an extra layer of communication that ensures that the child code is properly exited, so that the parent can reliably call "join" without blocking (see IO::Lambda::Message, that is destined exactly for this use).

    $code is executed in another thread's context, and is passed the communication socket ( if $pass_socket is set to 1 ). $code is also passed @param. Data returned from the code can be retrieved from "join".

threaded($code) :: () -> ( @results )
    Creates a lambda, that executes $code in a newly created thread. The lambda finishes when the $code and the thread are finished, and returns results returned by $code.

    Note, that this lambda, if "terminate"'d between after being started and before being finished, has no chance to wait for completion of the associated thread, and so Perl will complain. To deal with that, obtain the thread object manually and wait for the thread:

        my $l = threaded { 42 };
        $l-> start;
        ....
        $l-> terminate;

        # synchronously
        $l-> thread-> join;

        # or asynchronously
        context $l-> socket;
        readable { $l-> thread-> join };

thread($lambda)
    Returns the associated thread object. Valid only for lambdas created with "threaded".

socket($lambda)
    Returns the associated communication socket. Valid only for lambdas created with "threaded".

BUGS

Unbalanced string table refcount
    Threading in Perl is fragile, so errors like the following:

       Unbalanced string table refcount: (1) for "GEN1" during global
       destruction

    are due to some obscure Perl bugs. They are triggered, in my experience, when a child thread tries to deallocate scalars that it thinks belongs to that thread. This can be sometimes avoided with explicit cleaning up of scalars that may be visible in threads. For example, calls as

       IO::Lambda::clear

    and

       undef $my_lambda; # or other scalars, whatever

    inexplicably hush these errors.

Perl exited with active threads
    Errors like this

      Perl exited with active threads:
            1 running and unjoined
            0 finished and unjoined
            0 running and detached

    are triggered when child threads weren't properly joined. Make sure your lambdas are finished properly. Use "env IO_LAMBDA_DEBUG=thread" to find out the details.

Scalars leaked: 1
    This is a known bug, f.ex. <http://rt.perl.org/rt3//Public/Bug/Display.html?id=70974> suggests adding the "@_ = ();" construct at random places as a workaround.

panic: del_backref during global destruction
    This is a known bug, <http://rt.perl.org/rt3/Ticket/Display.html?id=70748> . I observed in on win32 only. No workaround is known however.

AnyEvent
    AnyEvent doesn't work with threads, so this module most probably won't work too when AnyEvent is selected for IO::Lambda::Loop.

SEE ALSO
IO::Lambda, threads.

AUTHOR
Dmitry Karasik, <dmitry@karasik.eu.org>.