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Feature #4614

closed

[RFC/PATCH] thread_pthread.c: lower RUBY_STACK_MIN_LIMIT to 64K

Added by normalperson (Eric Wong) almost 13 years ago. Updated about 11 years ago.

Status:
Closed
Target version:
[ruby-core:35895]

Description

=begin
The patch (committed) for Issue #4568 made this change possible.

Lowering stack size allows users on memory-constrained 32-bit
machines to spawn more native threads (which are easier (IMHO)
to use than Fibers).

Setting RUBY_STACK_MIN_LIMIT to 48K seems to work even with
check, test-rubyspec, and benchmark-each targets. However, I'm
keeping it at 64K since that is what Symbian uses, so maybe
there's some code paths that need 64K.

I started experiencing failures with the Ruby tests with 44K on
x86_64, so 44K is definitely not safe. Much more effort would
be required to make Ruby work with smaller stacks than 48K.

Also pullable via git: git pull git://bogomips.org/ruby.git stack-reduce

=end


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Updated by ko1 (Koichi Sasada) almost 13 years ago

  • Assignee set to ko1 (Koichi Sasada)

GC eats large stack size if there are nested object (deep nested array and so on). I'm not sure but I think this is why we allocate 512KB for stack.

Any comments?

I think that Thread.new should accept stack size.

Updated by normalperson (Eric Wong) almost 13 years ago

Koichi Sasada wrote:

GC eats large stack size if there are nested object (deep nested array
and so on). I'm not sure but I think this is why we allocate 512KB
for stack.

Good point. I didn't think of that (rare case for me). We would need a
non-recursive implementation of gc_mark_children.

A simpler idea would be a dedicated marking thread with a deeper stack;
but I think that's ugly.

Any comments?

I think that Thread.new should accept stack size.

I'm not sure what the API would be. While it would help me, I think it
would be difficult to use and too low level for Ruby.

Meanwhile I can rebuild Ruby or use a trivial LD_PRELOAD:
http://yhbt.net/libministack.c

--
Eric Wong

Actions #3

Updated by shyouhei (Shyouhei Urabe) about 12 years ago

  • Status changed from Open to Assigned

Updated by ko1 (Koichi Sasada) over 11 years ago

  • Status changed from Assigned to Feedback
  • Priority changed from 3 to 5

Ad-hoc solution, but environment variable (such as RUBY_THREAD_MACHINE_STACK_SIZE) is enough for this issue?

Updated by normalperson (Eric Wong) over 11 years ago

"ko1 (Koichi Sasada)" wrote:

Ad-hoc solution, but environment variable (such as
RUBY_THREAD_MACHINE_STACK_SIZE) is enough for this issue?

I think environment variable is too ugly, but it's your (or matz's)
choice to support it.

Also, it seems the recursive structure problem with gc_mark_children()
is gone since r37075.

Probably better to discuss #6695 instead.

Updated by mame (Yusuke Endoh) over 11 years ago

ko1, what's the status?

Too many 2.0.0 tickets, especially big task ones, are assigned to ko1. ko1, please decide your priorities.

Welcome to volunteer for helping him.

--
Yusuke Endoh

Updated by ko1 (Koichi Sasada) over 11 years ago

Priority: High.

Updated by ko1 (Koichi Sasada) over 11 years ago

  • Priority changed from 5 to Normal

I add environment variable at r38479.

    - RUBY_THREAD_VM_STACK_SIZE: vm stack size used at thread creation.
      default: 128KB (32bit CPU) or 256KB (64bit CPU).
    - RUBY_THREAD_MACHINE_STACK_SIZE: machine stack size used at thread
      creation. default: 512KB or 1024KB.
    - RUBY_FIBER_VM_STACK_SIZE: vm stack size used at fiber creation.
      default: 64KB or 128KB.
    - RUBY_FIBER_MACHINE_STACK_SIZE: machine stack size used at fiber
      creation. default: 256KB or 256KB.

I want to ask feedback about this default setting.

Updated by normalperson (Eric Wong) about 11 years ago

"ko1 (Koichi Sasada)" wrote:

I add environment variable at r38479.

Thanks!

Btw, you put a giant "if false" around test/ruby/test_fiber.rb
with that commit. Was that intentional?

I want to ask feedback about this default setting.

I'm fine with the current defaults (including the r38592 update)

Updated by ko1 (Koichi Sasada) about 11 years ago

  • Status changed from Feedback to Closed

Sorry I missed your comment.
And the `if false' sentences may be removed.

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