How Perl programmers efficiently manage asynchronous program flows
Pyramid of Doom
Asynchronous program flow quickly degenerates into unreadable code if it lacks an overarching concept to provide structure. Fortunately, the JavaScript community has invented some functional tricks that also help tame asynchronous Perl code.
Even experts can unintentionally build race conditions into their code. Even they can easily overlook the side effects when multithreading suddenly interrupts the flow of code. Emergency teams later have to discover the causes, which involves a huge amount of effort. After all, the error the customer reports occurs only sporadically, because it only occurs given the temporal coincidence of certain events that cannot be easily reproduced by the development department.
One Thread Is Enough
If only one thread is running – as in a JavaScript application – then there can be no such race conditions, because the CPU runs the code as written, and nothing unexpected interrupts the flow. In other words, this approach has its benefits.
For a program with only one thread to run as fast as one with multiple threads, however, it must not be allowed to sit and twiddle its thumbs while, for example, a much slower network operation is in progress. To allow this to happen, the programmer relinquishes control over selected parts of the program to an event loop, which executes the events asynchronously. Once a programmer's brain has mastered the jump to asynchronous program flows, even complicated processes are wonderfully easy to write. Before that happens, however, some hurdles must be taken.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.