Re: Patch for fields of `struct buffer'

[Stefan Monnier]

> I don't think preemptive thread switching is a sensible goal.  It is
> so much trouble that it isn't worth doing even in the long term.

I don't think we will get to choose.  The alternative will be to switch
to some other language that does provide threading.  But let's not get
into this discussion because I believe it is not relevant to the problem
at hand.

> Thus, it is a mistake to do much work now, or complicate the code now,
> or cause a slowdown now, for the sake of preemptive thread switching.

AFAICT, none of what he did is done because of preemptive threading.
IOW, I don't think you can do it much more simply, even if you assume
a cooperative threading model.

> That is more limited than I thought it was.  If it is needed for
> non-preemptive thread switching, the benefit would justify the cost,
> but I think it isn't needed for that.  If this is would only be needed
> for preemptive thread switching, I think the loss of clarity and
> naturalness of the code is enough reason not to do it.

I don't think this is "only needed for preemptive thread scheduling".


        Stefan