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Diffstat (limited to 'hurd/translator/wishlist_2.mdwn')
| -rw-r--r-- | hurd/translator/wishlist_2.mdwn | 12 |
1 files changed, 11 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/hurd/translator/wishlist_2.mdwn b/hurd/translator/wishlist_2.mdwn index a927db55..77f39644 100644 --- a/hurd/translator/wishlist_2.mdwn +++ b/hurd/translator/wishlist_2.mdwn @@ -70,7 +70,17 @@ Here's an [idea](http://www.circlemud.org/~jelson/software/fusd/docs/node13.html * "One particularly interesting application of FUSD that we've found very useful is as a way to let regular user-space libraries export device file APIs. For example, imagine you had a library which factored large composite numbers. Typically, it might have a C interface--say, a function called `int *factorize(int bignum)`. With FUSD, it's possible to create a device file interface--say, a device called `/dev/factorize` to which clients can `write(2)` a big number, then `read(2)` back its factors. -* This may sound strange, but device file APIs have at least three advantages over a typical library API. First, it becomes much more language independent--any language that can make system calls can access the factorization library. Second, the factorization code is running in a different address space; if it crashes, it won't crash or corrupt the caller. Third, and most interestingly, it is possible to use `select(2)` to wait for the factorization to complete. `select(2)` would make it easy for a client to factor a large number while remaining responsive to other events that might happen in the meantime. In other words, FUSD allows normal user-space libraries to integrate seamlessly with UNIX's existing, POSIX-standard event notification interface: `select(2)`." +* This may sound strange, but device file APIs have at least three advantages + over a typical library API. First, it becomes much more language + independent--any language that can make [[system call]]s can access the + factorization library. Second, the factorization code is running in a + different address space; if it crashes, it won't crash or corrupt the + caller. Third, and most interestingly, it is possible to use `select(2)` to + wait for the factorization to complete. `select(2)` would make it easy for a + client to factor a large number while remaining responsive to other events + that might happen in the meantime. In other words, FUSD allows normal + user-space libraries to integrate seamlessly with UNIX's existing, + POSIX-standard event notification interface: `select(2)`." ## <a name="Mail"> Mail </a> |