[boost] Re: Re: Network library: What we have until now

From: Edward Diener (eddielee_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-04-13 11:57:42

Caleb Epstein wrote:
> On 4/13/05, Don G <dongryphon_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>> I also believe that non-blocking is an I/O only thing; it is not
>> needed for connect or accept.
>
> Not sure about the need for a non-blocking accept, but a non-blocking
> connect is a must-have.

While a non-blocking connect is a must-have I think a non-blocking accept is
essential also. A server needs to be just as responsive to other things
happening as a client. One might need to pause or stop the server
completely, depending on the meaning given to each, and a server might be
accepting connections on more than one endpoint. Without a non-blocking
accept, both these general possibilities become impossible and one ends up
with a single end-point server which must be killed to end the process,
which I do not think scales well in today's world of network programming.