Re: Parallel Computation

[Anonymous Monk]

Parallel::ForkManager makes this sort of thing pretty easy.

[BrowserUk]

I'd like to see a demonstration of that?

[chrestomanci]

Here is a skeleton of what you want.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use Parallel::ForkManager;

my $max_threads = 5;

my $fork_mgr = new Parallel::ForkManager($max_threads);

$fork_mgr->run_on_finish
(
    sub
    {
        my($child_pid, $exit_code, $child_id, $exit_signal, $core_dump
+) = @_;

        # Code to store the results from each thread go here.
    }
);

foreach my $item (@big_list)
{
    $fork_mgr->start($url_ent) and next URL
    
    # Code in this block will run in parallel
    my $result = do_stuff($item);
    
    # Store the final result. The value you pass to finish will be
    # received by the sub you defined in run_on_finish
    $fork_mgr->finish($result);
}

$fork_mgr->wait_all_children();

# Now all child threads have finished,
# your results should be available.

A few extra tips:

If you are running this code in the perl debugger, then you might want to debug the child threads. If so, run your program in a unix/linux xterm window. The debugger will create new xterm windows for each child thread, so you can separately step through the parent and the children

Conversely, if you don't want to step through the children, and your screen is filling up with windows from child threads, you can use the debug option: o inhibit_exit=0 To suppress the display of windows for child threads that finish without hitting a breakpoint.</c>

[BrowserUk]

Since I'm not the OP, it's unlikely I'm looking to get my homework solved. But then, it's unlikely any teacher would give the OP's problem as homework.

Thanks for the sample code, but I already know how to use Parallel::ForkManager, I've done so many times.

What I was seeking is an example of using that module to solve the OPs particular problem. You see, I cannot work out how it would pass back the result and carry from adding the first, rightmost, two digits back to the parent process so that the carry can be passed to the next child when adding the next two digits? Any thoughts?