[PRL] Apple's new OS geared for multicore future | Deep Tech - CNET News

[Mitchell Wand]

Snow Leopard's approach to multicore:

Enter Grand Central Dispatch, or GCD. This Snow Leopard component is
> designed to minimize many of the difficulties of parallel programming. It's
> easy to modify existing software to use GCD, Apple said, and the operating
> system handles complicated administrative chores so programmers don't have
> to.
>
> ...
>
> The core mechanisms within GCD are blocks and queues. Programmers mark code
> chunks to convert them into blocks, then tells the application how to create
> the queue that governs how those blocks are actually run. Block execution
> can be tied to specific events--the arrival of network information, a change
> to a file, a mouse click.
>
> Apple hopes programmers will like blocks' advantages: Older code can easily
> be retrofitted with blocks so programmers can try it without major
> re-engineering; they're lightweight and don't take up resources when they're
> not running; and they're flexible enough to encapsulate large or small parts
> of code.
>
> "There's a lot of overhead around threading that means you want to break
> your program into as few pieces as possible. With Grand Central Dispatch, we
> say break your program into as many tiny pieces as you can conceive of,"
> Hodges said.
>
> Another difference with the Grand Central Dispatch approach is its
> centralization. The operating system worries about managing all
> applications' blocks rather than each application providing its own
> oversight. That central view means the operating system decides which tasks
> get which resources, Apple said, and that the system overall can become more
> responsive even when it's busy.
>
Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10319839-264.html (via shareaholic)

Anybody know more?

--Mitch
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