[boost] Inactive Objects

From: scott (scottw_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-03-11 18:08:24

Hi to those folks that contributed to some recent messages
related to threads, active objects and reactive objects.
Mostly this was Matthew Vogt.

So this is mostly for Matthew but anyone else can certainly
respond.

I have been interested in proposing an alternative threading
model to that provided by boost.threads. Quite sensibly
somone suggested that any alternative should leverage the
existing facillity. J. Garland also provided the reference
to the work of Schmidt; the ActiveObject pattern.

I have been trying to slice off a piece of a larger library
that I have been working on. Defining something that would
be appropriate as a proposal to boost is very difficult. I
started a requirements document to that end which become
more of a research paper. Its convinced me that it is probably
a no-go.

The fundamental reason would be the scope of anything with
pretentions to calling itself "active objects". It requires
not only a significant body of supporting code but requires
quite a cultural change by users (i.e. developers).

I would have posted the document but it is quite long. If
anyone is interested in it then just ask for it. Its a rambling
piece but it has been reviewed :-)

Cheers,
Scott