Warp wrote:
> have to be multithreaded:

They don't *have* to be, but it's certainly a lot easier, especially in 
languages where handling event loops is problematic (like those without 
closures or whatever).

>   This efficient locking problem 

I always wondered why nobody makes a CPU with a non-privileged instruction 
that says something like "turn off interrupts for the next N instructions", 
where N < 8 or so. Then you wouldn't need "test-and-set" or atomic writes or 
any of that sort of specialized instructions.

Of course, I guess the time for that idea has come and gone with the rise of 
multicore machines where interrupts aren't the only thing you have to lock.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Serving Suggestion:
     "Don't serve this any more. It's awful."

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