undefined | Better HN

0 pointspizlonator1mo ago0 comments

> No it isn't, it has a fixed number of yields, which has a very different duration on various CPUs

You say this with zero data.

I know that yielding 40 times is optimal for WebKit because I measured it. In fact it was re-measured many times because folks like you would doubt that it could’ve optimal, suggest something different, and then again the 40 yields would be shown to be optimal.

> And no if you read the code, they do spin. Worse, they actually yield the thread before properly parking.

Threads wait if the lock is not available immediately-ish.

Yes, they spin by yielding. Spinning by pausing or doing anything else results in worse performance. We measured this countless times.

I think the mistake you’re making is that you’re imagining how locks work. Whereas what I am doing is running rigorous experiments that involved putting WebKit through larger scale tests

0 comments

ablob1mo ago

>> No it isn't, it has a fixed number of yields, which has a very different duration on various CPUs

> You say this with zero data.

Wouldn't the null hypothesis be that the same program behaves differently on different CPUs? Is "different people require different amounts of time to run 100m" a statement that requires data?

Lectem1mo ago

>You say this with zero data.

Or so you assume

> Spinning by pausing or doing anything else results in worse performance. We measured this countless times.

And I've seen the issue in hundreds of captures using a profiler. I suppose we just have a different definitions of the what "worse performance" is.

> Whereas what I am doing is running rigorous experiments that involved putting WebKit through larger scale tests

Or perhaps the fish was drown in the stats, or again different metrics.

pizlonatorOP1mo ago

> Or so you assume

You're not including data in your discussion of this topic. Your post included zero data.

My post on WTF locks has tons of data.

So, I'm not assuming; I'm observing.

> And I've seen the issue in hundreds of captures using a profiler. I suppose we just have a different definitions of the what "worse performance" is.

Nobody cares what you saw in the profiler.

What matters is the performance users experience.

By any metric of observable performance, yielding is the optimal way of spinning.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse