Re: [Boost-users] pool allocator performance with multiple threads

From: Tim Blechmann (tim_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-03-23 07:32:50

> Does anyone know if the fast_pool_allocator is supposed to work in a
> multithreaded environment?  I know that it is "thread-safe," but I'm
> getting some really discouraging test results from it.  Namely, using
> fast_pool_allocator is consistently performing about 10 times SLOWER for
> me than new/delete whenever multiple threads are involved.  I've tested
> and come up with the same results on three different platforms: Mac,
> Linux and Windows (MSVC).  

from my understanding, the pool implementations of boost use a global 
lock, so it doesn't scale very well in multithreaded environments ...

the memory allocators on most systems avoid locking by using thread-
specific caches ... or, like the streamflow library, use lock-free 
algorithms ...

best, tim

-- 
tim_at_[hidden]
http://tim.klingt.org
Which is more musical, a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing
by a music school?
  John Cage