Re: multi-threaded Emacs

[Stefan Monnier]

> solution, what I would like to optimize using threads is I/O bound and a
> concurrent model can do it only in part.  If an Elisp primitive is
> waiting for some data from a file or a socket, Emacs will hang until it
> is ready.  This problem can't be solved by concurrent threads that will

Actually, no: while Emacs is waiting for socket data, it can already run
other async code, such as process filters.

So we can solve most I/O bound problems just by using a very coarse
notion of concurrency.  We already partly do it, except we're currently
limited to a single stack, which makes coding painful and prevents some
useful cases.

Providing a cooperative threading model will remove this problem.  But,
no it's not a "final solution": I hope there never will be a final
solution, because Emacs will always need to evolve.


        Stefan