Re: [boost] asio networking proposal

From: Rene Rivera (grafik.list_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-08-18 21:36:49

Christopher Kohlhoff wrote:
[...]
> The performance problems of requiring vector<char> or char[N] exist on
> several levels:
> 
> - For vector<char>, there is the initialisation of the chars to 0 on
[...]
> - Requiring a copy from a native data structure into vector<char> or
[...]
> Avoiding unnecessary data copying is a vital part of implementing high
> performance protocols.
> 
> I also believe that the argument that the cost is not significant
> compared to network I/O does not hold when you are developing an
> application using asynchronous I/O, since the time spent
> sending/receiving no longer blocks the application.
[...]
> Again, I believe that adding safety is best done in layers, in
> accordance with the don't pay for what you don't need principle:
> 
> asio::socket::send/recv etc taking void* + size_t. These functions can
> result in a short send or receive.
>   ^
>   |
> asio::send_n/recv_n etc taking void* + size_t. These functions attempt
> to transfer the all of the requested data.

I've been skimming this conversation so far... But I thought I'd chime 
in with some encouragement :-) I'm *very* glad to see that you are not 
falling into the "it's IO so it doesn't need to fast" trap. The 
particular application I'm going to use asio in involves writing a low 
level, as in on top of UDP, protocol and software router. So I can't 
stress the important of having an interface that adds minimal 
abstraction as I'll be doing everything else. It is a rather common 
practice to design client server applications exclusive for high speed 
LAN based operation.

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