8 ms·

If you work on software that has hard real-time constraints, e.g. live audio processing, do any of the improvements to GC matter? GC reminds me of satellite in

If you work on software that has hard real-time constraints, e.g. live audio processing, do any of the improvements to GC matter? GC reminds me of satellite internet: no matter how fast it gets in terms of throughput, the latency will always be unacceptable — but because the latency issue can't be solved, advocates will keep trying to tell you that latency doesn't matter as much as you think it does and your problem isn't really a problem. (All sorts of bad experiences in modern software come down to somone trading away latency to get throughput.) Rather than the framing of "GC vs. ARC", I'm mostly interested in improvements to the ownership model.

verdagon 5y ago
Ironically, even though I believe RC will make great strides, I actually agree with you. Single ownership has the most potential, especially if we decouple it from the borrow checker as we are in Vale. [0] Being able to control when something is deallocated is quite powerful, especially for real-time systems. [0] https://verdagon.dev/blog/generational-references https://verdagon.dev/blog/generational-references
pjmlp 5y ago
There are real time GCs when one is willing to put the money on the table. https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/perc https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/perc https://www.aicas.com/wp/products-services/jamaicavm/ https://www.aicas.com/wp/products-services/jamaicavm/
Tozen 4y ago
> "GC reminds me of satellite internet." > GC reminds me of satellite internet: no matter how fast it gets in terms of throughput, the latency will always be unacceptable — but because the latency issue can't be solved, advocates will keep trying to tell you that latency doesn't matter as much as you think it does and your problem isn't really a problem. LOL, like this statement, and will have to borrow it for future discussions/debates.

verdagon 5y ago

Ironically, even though I believe RC will make great strides, I actually agree with you. Single ownership has the most potential, especially if we decouple it from the borrow checker as we are in Vale. [0] Being able to control when something is deallocated is quite powerful, especially for real-time systems. [0] https://verdagon.dev/blog/generational-references https://verdagon.dev/blog/generational-references

pjmlp 5y ago

There are real time GCs when one is willing to put the money on the table. https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/perc https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/perc https://www.aicas.com/wp/products-services/jamaicavm/ https://www.aicas.com/wp/products-services/jamaicavm/

Tozen 4y ago

> "GC reminds me of satellite internet." > GC reminds me of satellite internet: no matter how fast it gets in terms of throughput, the latency will always be unacceptable — but because the latency issue can't be solved, advocates will keep trying to tell you that latency doesn't matter as much as you think it does and your problem isn't really a problem. LOL, like this statement, and will have to borrow it for future discussions/debates.