Re: [MacPerl] Perl Shared Library (was Re: [MacPerl] ports andbuilds)

[Chris Nandor <pudge@pobox.com>]

At 23.20 -0500 1999.01.14, Jeff at MacTech wrote:
>Under Unix and Win, the Perl app itself tends to be tiny--the bulk is in a
>shared lib, and this tiny app just embeds and invokes the lib (as I'm sure
>you know).

Well, that's only if you build perl with a libperl.  I usually don't, so my
perl executables are several hundred K apiece.


>1) Multiple Perl apps could run simultaneously without (or independent of)
>threading in the interpreter. They would each have a large memory
>footprint, but a small disk footprint which would be ideal for
>distribution.

While this may be somewhat of an advantage, I personally don't see it as a
significant one.  If the user already has MacPerl installed, which they
would need to in order to run these small apps, then distribution is not a
problem now, because programs can be distributed as text.

I am not against having a shared library, but it does not solve the primary
problems we have with multiple processes, which involve launching a script
from the Finder or trying to talk to MacPerl via Apple Events.  I think
those are best solved through multithreading in the interpreter itself
(unfortunately).

I don't know if it would make MacPerl more stable or not.  As to
automatically updating other apps, well, few MacPerl apps in my experience
are saved with the interpreter (as standalones), so this is not currently a
common problem, though you are correct, it would benefit the case of the
standalone.

But, if it came down to a choice, I would rather see threading in the
MacPerl app than a shared library.  I think it brings the most immediate
benefits to everyone, especially in the realm of CGI and other types of
programs not specifically initiated by the local user, which could run
simultaneously.

[As an aside, I think I would like to see MacPerl gobble up another creator
id, and I would run two MacPerl apps, one that my CGIs would talk to and my
cron programs would launch under, and one that I would use for other
things.  That separation might help make the other programs more stable.
Of course, memory protection and preemptive multitasking would be even
better toward that end.]

--
Chris Nandor          mailto:pudge@pobox.com         http://pudge.net/
%PGPKey = ('B76E72AD', [1024, '0824090B CE73CA10  1FF77F13 8180B6B6'])

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