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Performance of multi‐tasking and synchronization mechanisms in the programming language SR
Author(s) -
Atkins M. Stella,
Olsson Ronald A.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/spe.4380180906
Subject(s) - human multitasking , computer science , synchronization (alternating current) , programming language , process (computing) , high level programming language , distributed computing , programming paradigm , psychology , computer network , channel (broadcasting) , cognitive psychology
High‐level language primitives for concurrent programming exist in languages such as Ada and Modula‐2. However, each of these languages provides only a single means for specifying multitasking and synchronization, essential in the implementation of concurrent systems. The SR language provides several mechanisms for specifying multi‐tasking and synchronization, so it can be used to explore the performance of various communication techniques. This paper presents performance results for SR's multi‐tasking and synchronization mechanisms and discusses the effects of the generated code, the run‐time support and the hardware on these results. These results are compared with those for similar mechanisms in other languages, leading to some general conclusions about the performance of process communication primitives. These performance results can be used by programmers to make design choices that allow systems programs written in high‐level languages to meet real‐time performance specifications.