Changes

Update 13.1.0 Bug fixes and features added

Added:

Fixed:

Changed:

Tasks Details Table format

{ 
    ["Tasks"] = { 
        {
            ["TID"] = 0,
            ["Type"] = scheduler,
            ["Name"] = multi.thread,
            ["Priority"] = Core,
            ["Uptime"] = 6.752
            ["Link"] = tableRef
        },
        ...
    } ,

    ["Systemthreads"] = { 
        { 
            ["Uptime"] = 6.752
            ["Link"] = tableRef
            ["Name"] = threadname
            ["ThreadID"] = 0
        },
        ...
    },

    ["Threads"] = { 
        { 
            ["Uptime"] = 6.752
            ["Link"] = tableRef
            ["Name"] = threadname
            ["ThreadID"] = 0
        },
        ...
    },

    ["ProcessName"] = multi.root,
    ["CyclesPerSecondPerTask"] = 3560300,
    ["MemoryUsage"] = 1846, in KB returned as a number
    ["ThreadCount"] = 1,
    ["SystemLoad"] = 0, as a % 100 is max 0 is min
    ["PriorityScheme"] = Round-Robin
    ["SystemThreadCount"] = 1
}

Update 13.0.0 Added some documentation, and some new features too check it out!

Quick note on the 13.0.0 update:
This update I went all in finding bugs and improving proformance within the library. I added some new features and the new task manager, which I used as a way to debug the library was a great help, so much so thats it is now a permanent feature. It’s been about half a year since my last update, but so much work needed to be done. I hope you can find a use in your code to use my library. I am extremely proud of my work; 7 years of development, I learned so much about lua and programming through the creation of this library. It was fun, but there will always be more to add and bugs crawling there way in. I can’t wait to see where this library goes in the future!

Fixed: Tons of bugs, I actually went through the entire library and did a full test of everything, I mean everything, while writing the documentation.
Changed:

Connection Example:

loop = multi:newTLoop(function(self)
    self:OnLoops() -- new way to Fire a connection! Only works when used on a multi object, bin objects, or any object that contains a Type variable
end,1)
loop.OnLoops = multi:newConnection()
loop.OnLoops(function()
    print("Looping")
end)
multi:mainloop()

Function Example:

func = multi:newFunction(function(self,a,b)
    self:Pause()
    return 1,2,3
end)
print(func()) -- returns: 1, 2, 3
print(func()) -- nil, true

Removed:

These didn’t have much use in their previous form, but with the addition of hyper threaded processes the goals that these objects aimed to solve are now possible using a process

Fixed:

Added:

package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
local multi = require("multi")
conn = multi:newConnector()
conn.OnTest = multi:newConnection()
conn.OnTest(function()
    print("Yes!")
end)
test = multi:newHyperThreadedProcess("test")
test:newTLoop(function()
    print("HI!")
    conn:OnTest()
end,1)
test:newLoop(function()
    print("HEY!")
    thread.sleep(.5)
end)
multi:newAlarm(3):OnRing(function()
    test:Sleep(10)
end)
test:Start()
multi:mainloop()

Table format for getTasksDetails(STRING format)

{
    {TID = 1,Type="",Priority="",Uptime=0}
    {TID = 2,Type="",Priority="",Uptime=0}
    ...
    {TID = n,Type="",Priority="",Uptime=0}
    ThreadCount = 0
    threads={
        [Thread_Name]={
            Uptime = 0
        }
    }
}

Note: After adding the getTasksDetails() function I noticed many areas where threads, and tasks were not being cleaned up and fixed the leaks. I also found out that a lot of tasks were starting by default and made them enable only. If you compare the benchmark from this version to last version you;ll notice a signifacant increase in performance.

Going forward:

Update 12.2.2 Time for some more bug fixes!

Fixed: multi.Stop() not actually stopping due to the new pirority management scheme and preformance boost changes.
Thats all for this update

Update 12.2.1 Time for some bug fixes!

Fixed: SystemThreadedJobQueues

Fixed: SystemThreadedConnection

Removed: multi:newQueuer

Going forwardGoing forward:

Example

package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
multi = require("multi")
GLOBAL, THREAD = require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
jq = multi:newSystemThreadedJobQueue()
jq:registerJob("test",function(a)
    return "Hello",a
end)
jq.OnJobCompleted(function(ID,...)
    print(ID,...)
end)
for i=1,16 do
    jq:pushJob("test",5)
end
multi:mainloop()

Update 12.2.0

Added:

P1 follows a forumla that resembles this: ~n=I*PRank where n is the amount of steps given to an object with PRank and where I is the idle time see chart below. The aim of this priority scheme was to make core objects run fastest while letting idle processes get decent time as well.

C: 3322269    ~I*7
H: 2847660    ~I*6
A: 2373050    ~I*5
N: 1898440    ~I*4
B: 1423830    ~I*3
L: 949220     ~I*2
I: 474610     ~I
~n=I*PRank

P2 follows a formula that resembles this: ~n=n*4 where n is the idle time, see chart below. The goal of this one was to make core process’ higher while keeping idle process’ low.

C: 6700821
H: 1675205
A: 418801
N: 104700
B: 26175
L: 6543
I: 1635
~n=n*4

P3 Ignores using a basic funceion and instead bases its processing time on the amount of cpu time is there. If cpu-time is low and a process is set at a lower priority it will get its time reduced. There is no formula, at idle almost all process work at the same speed!

C: 2120906
H: 2120906
A: 2120906
N: 2120906
B: 2120906
L: 2120906
I: 2120506

Auto Priority works by seeing what should be set high or low. Due to lua not having more persicion than milliseconds, I was unable to have a detailed manager that can set things to high, above normal, normal, ect. This has either high or low. If a process takes longer than .001 millisecond it will be set to low priority. You can change this by using the setting autolowest = multi.Priority[PLevel] the defualt is low, not idle, since idle tends to get about 1 process each second though you can change it to idle using that setting.

Improved:

I usually give an example of the changes made, but this time I have an explantion for multi.nextStep(). It’s not an entirely new feature since multi:newJob() does something like this, but is completely different. nextStep addes a function that is executed first on the next step. If multiple things are added to next step, then they will be executed in the order that they were added.

Note:
The upper limit of this libraries performance on my machine is ~39mil. This is simply a while loop counting up from 0 and stops after 1 second. The 20mil that I am currently getting is probably as fast as it can get since its half of the max performance possible, and each layer I have noticed that it doubles complexity. Throughout the years with this library I have seen massive improvements in speed. In the beginning we had only ~2000 steps per second. Fast right? then after some tweaks we went to about 300000 steps per second, then 600000. Some more tweaks brought me to ~1mil steps per second, then to ~4 mil then ~9 mil and now finally ~20 mil… the doubling effect that i have now been seeing means that odds are I have reach the limit. I will aim to add more features and optimize individule objects. If its possible to make the library even faster then I will go for it.

Update 12.1.0

Fixed:

Changed:

package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
multi = require("multi")
local a = 0
multi:newThread("test",function()
    print("lets go")
    b,c = thread.hold(function() -- This now returns what was managed here
        return b,"We did it!"
    end)
    print(b,c)
end)
multi:newTLoop(function()
    a=a+1
    if a == 5 then
        b = "Hello"
    end
end,1)
multi:mainloop()

Note: Only if the first return is non-nil/false will any other returns be passed! So while variable b above is nil the string “We did it!” will not be passed. Also while this seems simple enough to get working, I had to modify a bit on how the scheduler worked to add such a simple feature. Quite a bit is going on behind the scenes which made this a bit tricky to implement, but not hard. Just needed a bit of tinkering. Plus event objects have not been edited since the creation of the EventManager. They have remained mostly the same since 2011

Going forward:

Contunue to make small changes as I come about them. This change was inspired when working of the net library. I was addind simple binary file support over tcp, and needed to pass the data from the socket when the requested amount has been recieved. While upvalues did work, i felt returning data was cleaner and added this feature.

Update: 12.0.0 Big update (Lots of additions some changes)

Note: After doing some testing, I have noticed that using multi-objects are slightly, quite a bit, faster than using (coroutines)multi:newthread(). Only create a thread if there is no other possibility! System threads are different and will improve performance if you know what you are doing. Using a (coroutine)thread as a loop with a
is slower than using a TLoop! If you do not need the holding features I strongly recommend that you use the multi-objects. This could be due to the scheduler that I am using, and I am looking into improving the performance of the scheduler for (coroutine)threads. This is still a work in progress so expect things to only get better as time passes!
This was the reason threadloop was added. It binds the thread scheduler into the mainloop allowing threads to run much faster than before. Also the use of locals is now possible since I am not dealing with seperate objects. And finally, reduced function overhead help keeps the threads running better.

Added:

Changed:

Node:

Master:

Bugs

Going forward:

Note On Queues: When it comes to network queues, they only send 1 way. What I mean by that is that if the master sends a message to a node, its own queue will not get populated at all. The reason for this is because syncing between which popped from what network queue would make things really slow and would not perform well at all. This means you have to code a bit differently. Use: master getFreeNode() to get the name of the node under the least amount of load. Then handle the sending of data to each node that way.

Now there is a little trick you can do. If you combine both networkmanager and systemthreading manager, then you could have a proxy queue for all system threads that can pull from that “node”. Now data passing within a lan network, (And wan network if using the node manager, though p2p isn’t working as i would like and you would need to open ports and make things work. Remember you can define an port for your node so you can port forward that if you want), is fast enough, but the waiting problem is something to consider. Ask yourseld what you are coding and if network paralisim is worth using.

Note: These examples assume that you have already connected the nodes to the node manager. Also you do not need to use the node manager, but sometimes broadcast does not work as expected and the master doesnot connect to the nodes. Using the node manager offers nice features like: removing nodes from the master when they have disconnected, and automatically telling the master when nodes have been added. A more complete example showing connections regardless of order will be shown in the example folder check it out. New naming scheme too.

NodeManager.lua

package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
multi = require("multi")
local GLOBAL, THREAD = require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
nGLOBAL = require("multi.integration.networkManager").init()
multi:nodeManager(12345) -- Host a node manager on port: 12345
print("Node Manager Running...")
settings = {
    priority = 0, -- 1 or 2
    protect = false,
}
multi:mainloop(settings)
-- Thats all you need to run the node manager, everything else is done automatically

Side note: I had a setting called cross talk that would allow nodes to talk to each other. After some tought I decided to not allow nodes to talk to each other directly! You however can create another master withing the node. (The node will connect to its own master as well). This will give you the ability “Cross talk” with each node. Reimplementing the master features into each node directly was un nessacery.

Node.lua

package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
multi = require("multi")
local GLOBAL, THREAD = require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
nGLOBAL = require("multi.integration.networkManager").init()
master = multi:newNode{
    allowRemoteRegistering = true, -- allows you to register functions from the master on the node, default is false
    name = nil, -- default value
    noBroadCast = true, -- if using the node manager, set this to true to prevent the node from broadcasting
    managerDetails = {"localhost",12345}, -- connects to the node manager if one exists
}
function RemoteTest(a,b,c) -- a function that we will be executing remotely
    print("Yes I work!",a,b,c)
end
settings = {
    priority = 0, -- 1 or 2
    protect = false, -- if something goes wrong we will crash hard, but the speed gain is good
}
multi:mainloop(settings)

Master.lua

-- set up the package
package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
-- Import the libraries
multi = require("multi")
local GLOBAL, THREAD = require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
nGLOBAL = require("multi.integration.networkManager").init()
-- Act as a master node
master = multi:newMaster{
    name = "Main", -- the name of the master
    noBroadCast = true, -- if using the node manager, set this to true to avoid double connections
    managerDetails = {"localhost",12345}, -- the details to connect to the node manager (ip,port)
}
-- Send to all the nodes that are connected to the master
master:doToAll(function(node_name)
    master:register("TestFunc",node_name,function(msg)
        print("It works: "..msg)
    end)
    multi:newAlarm(2):OnRing(function(alarm)
        master:execute("TestFunc",node_name,"Hello!")
        alarm:Destroy()
    end)
    multi:newThread("Checker",function()
        while true do
            thread.sleep(1)
            if nGLOBAL["test"] then
                print(nGLOBAL["test"])
                thread.kill()
            end
        end
    end)
    nGLOBAL["test2"]={age=22}
end)

-- Starting the multitasker
settings = {
    priority = 0, -- 0, 1 or 2
    protect = false,
}
multi:mainloop(settings)

Note: There are many ways to work this. You could send functions/methods to a node like haw systemThreadedJobQueue work. Or you could write the methods you want in advance in each node file and send over the command to run the method with arguments … and it will return the results. Network threading is different than system threading. Data transfer is really slow compared to system threading. In fact the main usage for this feature in the library is mearly for experments. Right now I honestly do not know what I want to do with this feature and what I am going to add to this feature. The ablitiy to use this frature like a system thread will be possible, but there are some things that differ.

Changed:

Modifying the global stack is not the best way to manage or load in the library.

-- Base Library
multi = require("multi")
-- In Lanes
multi = require("multi")
local GLOBAL, THREAD = require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
-- In Love2d
multi = require("multi")
GLOBAL, THREAD = require("multi.integration.loveManager").init()
-- In Luvit
local timer = require("timer")
local thread = require("thread")
multi = require("multi")
require("multi.integration.luvitManager").init(thread,timer) -- Luvit does not cuttently have support for the global table or threads.

Improvements:

Removed:

The new settings table makes all of these possible and removes a lot of function overhead that was going on before.

multi:mainloop{
    priority = 1, -- 1 or 2
    protect = true, -- Should I use pcall to ignore errors?
    preLoop = function(self) -- a function that is called before the mainloop does its thing
        multi:newTLoop(function()
            print("Hello whats up!")
            error(":P")
        end,1)
        multi.OnError(function(obj,err)
            print(err)
            obj:Destroy()
        end)
    end,
}

Update: 1.11.1

Love2d change:
I didn’t make a mistake but didn’t fully understand how the new love.run function worked.
So, it works by returning a function that allows for running the mainloop. So, this means that we can do something like this:

multi:newLoop(love.run()) -- Run the mainloop here, cannot use thread.* when using this object

-- or

multi:newThread("MainLoop",love.run()) -- allows you to use the thread.*

--And you'll need to throw this in at the end
multi:mainloop()

For the long-time users of this library you know of the amazing multitasking features that the library has. Used correctly you can have insane power. The priority management system should be quite useful with this change.
NOTE: multiobj:hold() will be removed in the next version! This is something I feel should be changed, since threads(coroutines) do the job great, and way better than my holding method that I throw together 5 years ago. I doubt this is being used by many anyway. Version 1.11.2 or version 2.0.0 will have this change. The next update may be either, bug fixes if any or network parallelism.

TODO: Add auto priority adjustments when working with priority and stuff… If the system is under heavy load it will dial some things deemed as less important down and raise the core processes.

Update: 1.11.0

Added:

-- MainThread:
console = multi:newSystemThreadedConsole("console"):init()
-- Thread:
console = THREAD.waitFor("console"):init()

-- using the console
console:print(...)
console:write(...) -- kind of useless for formatting code though. other threads can eaisly mess this up.

Fixed/Updated:

function love.update(dt)
    multi:uManager(dt) -- runs the main loop of the multitasking library
end
function love.draw()
    multi.dManager() -- If using my guimanager, if not omit this
end

Update: 1.10.0

Note: The library is now considered to be stable!
Upcoming: Network parallelism is on the way. It is in the works and should be released soon

Added:

Example of threaded connections

package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
local GLOBAL,THREAD=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
multi:newSystemThread("Test_Thread_1",function()
    connOut = THREAD.waitFor("ConnectionNAMEHERE"):init()
    connOut(function(arg)
        print(THREAD.getName(),arg)
    end)
    multi:mainloop()
end)
multi:newSystemThread("Test_Thread_2",function()
    connOut = THREAD.waitFor("ConnectionNAMEHERE"):init()
    connOut(function(arg)
        print(THREAD.getName(),arg)
    end)
    multi:mainloop()
end)
connOut = multi:newSystemThreadedConnection("ConnectionNAMEHERE"):init()
a=0
connOut(function(arg)
    print("Main",arg)
end)
multi:newTLoop(function()
    a=a+1
    connOut:Fire("Test From Main Thread: "..a.."\n")
end,1)

Fixed:

loveManager and shared threading objects

Example of threaded tables

package.path="?/init.lua;?.lua;"..package.path
local GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
multi:newSystemThread("Test_Thread_1",function()
    require("multi")
    test = sThread.waitFor("testthing"):init()
    multi:newTLoop(function()
        print("------")
        for i,v in pairs(test.tab) do
            print("T1",i,v)
        end
    end,1)
    multi:mainloop()
end)
multi:newSystemThread("Test_Thread_1",function()
    require("multi")
    test = sThread.waitFor("testthing"):init()
    multi:newTLoop(function()
        print("------")
        for i,v in pairs(test.tab) do
            print("T2",i,v)
        end
    end,1)
    multi:mainloop()
end)
test = multi:newSystemThreadedTable("testthing"):init()
multi:newTLoop(function()
    local a,b = multi.randomString(8),multi.randomString(4)
    print(">",a,b)
    test[a]=b
end,1)
multi:mainloop()

Update: 1.9.2

Added:

Fixed:

Changed:

Update: 1.9.1

Added:

Updated:

Update: 1.9.0

Added:

Works on threads and regular objects. Requires the latest bin library to work!

talarm=multi:newThreadedAlarm("AlarmTest",5)
talarm:OnRing(function()
     print("Ring!")
end)
bin.new(talarm:ToString()):tofile("test.dat")
-- multi:newFromString(bin.load("test.dat"))

— A more seamless way to use this will be made in the form of state saving.
This is still a WIP
processes, timers, timemasters, watchers, and queuers have not been worked on yet

Update: 1.8.7

Added:

function test(a,b,c)
    print("Running...")
    a=0
    for i=1,1000000000 do
        a=a+1
    end
    return a,b+c
end
print(multi.timer(test,1,2,3))
print(multi.timer(test,1,2,3))
-- multi.timer returns the time taken then the arguments from the function... Uses unpack so careful of nil values!

Update: 1.8.6

Added:

This will run said function in every thread.

-- Going to use love2d code this time, almost the same as last time... See ramblings
require("core.Library")
GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.loveManager").init() -- load the love2d version of the lanesManager and requires the entire multi library
require("core.GuiManager")
gui.ff.Color=Color.Black
jQueue=multi:newSystemThreadedJobQueue()
jQueue:registerJob("TEST_JOB",function(a,s)
    math.randomseed(s)
    TEST_JOB2()
    return math.random(0,255)
end)
jQueue:registerJob("TEST_JOB2",function()
    print("Test Works!")
end)
-- 1.8.6 EXAMPLE Change
jQueue:start() -- This is now needed!
--
jQueue:doToAll(function()
    print("Doing this 2? times!")
end)
tableOfOrder={}
jQueue.OnJobCompleted(function(JOBID,n)
    tableOfOrder[JOBID]=n
    if #tableOfOrder==10 then
        t.text="We got all of the pieces!"
    end
end)
for i=1,10 do -- Job Name of registered function, ... varargs
    jQueue:pushJob("TEST_JOB","This is a test!",math.random(1,1000000))
end
t=gui:newTextLabel("no done yet!",0,0,300,100)
t:centerX()
t:centerY()

Update: 1.8.5

Added:

Allows the execution of system calls without hold up. It is possible to do the same using io.popen()! You decide which works best for you!

local GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
cmd=multi:newSystemThreadedExecute("SystemThreadedExecuteTest.lua") -- This file is important!
cmd.OnCMDFinished(function(code) -- callback function to grab the exit code... Called when the command goes through
    print("Got Code: "..code)
end)
multi:newTLoop(function()
    print("...") -- lets show that we aren't being held up
end,1)
multi:mainloop()

Update: 1.8.4

Added:

Using multi:newSystemThreadedJobQueue()

First you need to create the object
This works the same way as love2d as it does with lanes… It is getting harder to make both work the same way with speed in mind… Anyway…

-- Creating the object using lanes manager to show case this. Examples has the file for love2d
local GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
jQueue=multi:newSystemThreadedJobQueue(n) -- this internally creates System threads. By default it will use the # of processors on your system You can set this number though.
-- Only create 1 jobqueue! For now, making more than 1 is not supported. You only really need one though. Just register new functions if you want 1 queue to do more. The one reason though is keeping track of jobIDs. I have an idea that I will roll out in the ~~next update~~ eventually.
jQueue:registerJob("TEST_JOB",function(a,s)
    math.randomseed(s)
    -- We will push a random #
    TEST_JOB2() -- You can call other registered functions as well!
    return math.random(0,255) -- send the result to the main thread
end)
jQueue:registerJob("TEST_JOB2",function()
    print("Test Works!") -- this is called from the job since it is registered on the same queue
end)
tableOfOrder={} -- This is how we will keep order of our completed jobs. There is no guarantee that the order will be correct
jQueue.OnJobCompleted(function(JOBID,n) -- whenever a job is completed you hook to the event that is called. This passes the JOBID filled by the returns of the job
    -- JOBID is the completed job, starts at 1 and counts up by 1.
    -- Threads finish at different times so jobIDs may be passed out of order! Be sure to have a way to order them
    tableOfOrder[JOBID]=n -- we order ours by putting them into a table
    if #tableOfOrder==10 then
        print("We got all of the pieces!")
    end
end)
-- Lets push the jobs now
for i=1,10 do -- Job Name of registered function, ... varargs
    jQueue:pushJob("TEST_JOB","This is a test!",math.random(1,1000000))
end
print("I pushed all of the jobs :)")
multi:mainloop() -- Start the main loop :D

That’s it from this version!

Update: 1.8.3

Added:

New Mainloop functions Below you can see the slight differences… Function overhead is not too bad in lua but has a real difference. multi:mainloop() and multi:unprotectedMainloop() use the same algorithm yet the dedicated unprotected one is slightly faster due to having less function overhead.

* The OG mainloop function remains the same and old methods to achieve what we have with the new ones still exist

These new methods help by removing function overhead that is caused through the original mainloop function. The one downside is that you no longer have the flexibility to change the processing during runtime.

However there is a work around! You can use processes to run multiobjs as well and use the other methods on them.

I may make a full comparison between each method and which is faster, but for now trust that the dedicated ones with less function overhead are infect faster. Not by much but still faster.

Update: 1.8.2

Added:

The threaded table is setup just like the threaded queue.

It provids GLOBAL like features without having to write to GLOBAL!

This is useful for module creators who want to keep their data private, but also use GLOBAL like coding.

It has a few features that makes it a bit better than plain ol GLOBAL (For now…)
(ThreadedTable - TT for short) This was modified by a recent version that removed the need for a sync command

we also have the “sync” method, this one was made for love2d because we do a syncing trick to get data in a table format. The lanes side has a sync method as well so no worries. Using indexing calls sync once and may grab your variable. This allows you to have the lanes indexing ‘like’ syntax when doing regular indexing in love2d side of the module. As of right now both sides work flawlessly! And this effect is now the GLOBAL as well

On GLOBALS sync is a internal method for keeping the GLOBAL table in order. You can still use sThread.waitFor(name) to wait for variables that may or may not yet exist!

Time for some examples:

Using multi:newSystemThreadedTable(name)

-- lanes Desktop lua! NOTE: this is in lanesintergratetest6.lua in the examples folder
local GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
test=multi:newSystemThreadedTable("YO"):init()
test["test1"]="lol"
multi:newSystemThread("test",function()
    tab=sThread.waitFor("YO"):init()
    print(tab:has("test1"))
    sThread.sleep(3)
    tab["test2"]="Whats so funny?"
end)
multi:newThread("test2",function()
    print(test:waitFor("test2"))
end)
multi:mainloop()
-- love2d lua! NOTE: this is in main4.lua in the love2d examples
require("core.Library")
GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.loveManager").init() -- load the love2d version of the lanesManager and requires the entire multi library
require("core.GuiManager")
gui.ff.Color=Color.Black
test=multi:newSystemThreadedTable("YO"):init()
test["test1"]="lol"
multi:newSystemThread("test",function()
    tab=sThread.waitFor("YO"):init()
    print(tab["test1"])
    sThread.sleep(3)
    tab["test2"]="Whats so funny?"
end)
multi:newThread("test2",function()
    print(test:waitFor("test2"))
    t.text="DONE!"
end)
t=gui:newTextLabel("not done yet!",0,0,300,100)
t:centerX()
t:centerY()

Update: 1.8.1

No real change!

Changed the structure of the library. Combined the coroutine based threads into the core!

Only compat and integrations are not part of the core and never will be by nature.

This should make the library more convent to use.

I left multi/all.lua file so if anyone had libraries/projects that used that it will still work!

Updated from 1.7.6 to 1.8.0
(How much thread could a thread htread if a thread could thread thread?)
Added:

Using multi:systemThreadedBenchmark()

package.path="?/init.lua;"..package.path
local GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
multi:systemThreadedBenchmark(3):OnBench(function(self,count)
    print("First Bench: "..count)
    multi:systemThreadedBenchmark(3,"All Threads: ")
end)
multi:mainloop()

Using multi:newSystemThreadedQueue()

Quick Note: queues shared across multiple objects will be pulling from the same “queue” keep this in mind when coding! Also the queue respects direction a push on the thread side cannot be popped on the thread side… Same goes for the mainthread!
Turns out I was wrong about this…

-- in love2d, this file will be in the same example folder as before, but is named main2.lua
require("core.Library")
GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.loveManager").init() -- load the love2d version of the lanesManager and requires the entire multi library
--IMPORTANT
-- Do not make the above local, this is the one difference that the lanesManager does not have
-- If these are local the functions will have the upvalues put into them that do not exist on the threaded side
-- You will need to ensure that the function does not refer to any upvalues in its code. It will print an error if it does though
-- Also, each thread has a .1 second delay! This is used to generate a random value for each thread!
require("core.GuiManager")
gui.ff.Color=Color.Black
function multi:newSystemThreadedQueue(name) -- in love2d this will spawn a channel on both ends
    local c={}
    c.name=name
    if love then
        if love.thread then
            function c:init()
                self.chan=love.thread.getChannel(self.name)
                function self:push(v)
                    self.chan:push(v)
                end
                function self:pop()
                    return self.chan:pop()
                end
                GLOBAL[self.name]=self
                return self
            end
            return c
        else
            error("Make sure you required the love.thread module!")
        end
    else
        c.linda=lanes.linda()
        function c:push(v)
            self.linda:send("Q",v)
        end
        function c:pop()
            return ({self.linda:receive(0,"Q")})[2]
        end
        function c:init()
            return self
        end
        GLOBAL[name]=c
    end
    return c
end
queue=multi:newSystemThreadedQueue("QUEUE"):init()
queue:push("This is a test")
queue:push("This is a test2")
queue:push("This is a test3")
queue:push("This is a test4")
multi:newSystemThread("test2",function()
    queue=sThread.waitFor("QUEUE"):init()
    data=queue:pop()
    while data do
        print(data)
        data=queue:pop()
    end
    queue:push("DONE!")
end)
multi:newThread("test!",function()
    thread.hold(function() return queue:pop() end)
    t.text="Done!"
end)
t=gui:newTextLabel("no done yet!",0,0,300,100)
t:centerX()
t:centerY()

In Lanes

-- The code is compatible with each other, I just wanted to show different things you can do in both examples
-- This file can be found in the examples folder as lanesintegrationtest4.lua
local GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
queue=multi:newSystemThreadedQueue("QUEUE"):init()
queue:push("This is a test")
queue:push("This is a test2")
queue:push("This is a test3")
queue:push("This is a test4")
multi:newSystemThread("test2",function()
    queue=sThread.waitFor("QUEUE"):init()
    data=queue:pop()
    while data do
        print(data)
        data=queue:pop()
    end
    queue:push("This is a test5")
    queue:push("This is a test6")
    queue:push("This is a test7")
    queue:push("This is a test8")
end)
multi:newThread("test!",function() -- this is a lua thread
    thread.sleep(.1)
    data=queue:pop()
    while data do
        print(data)
        data=queue:pop()
    end
end)
multi:mainloop()

Update: 1.7.6

Fixed:
Typos like always
Added:

multi:getPlatform() — returns “love2d” if using the love2d platform or returns “lanes” if using lanes for threading

examples files

In Events added method setTask(func)

The old way still works and is more convent to be honest, but I felt a method to do this was needed for completeness.

Updated:
some example files to reflect changes to the core. Changes allow for less typing

loveManager to require the compat if used so you don’t need 2 require line to retrieve the library

Update: 1.7.5

Fixed some typos in the readme… (I am sure there are more there are always more)

Added more features for module support

TODO:

Work on performance of the library… I see 3 places where I can make this thing run quicker

I’ll show case some old versions of the multitasking library eventually so you can see its changes in days past!

Update: 1.7.4

Added: the example folder which will be populated with more examples in the near future!

The loveManager integration that mimics the lanesManager integration almost exactly to keep coding in both environments as close to possible. This is done mostly for library creation support!

An example of the loveManager in action using almost the same code as the lanesintergreationtest2.lua

NOTE: This code has only been tested to work on love2d version 1.10.2 though it should work version 0.9.0

require("core.Library") -- Didn't add this to a repo yet! Will do eventually... Allows for injections and other cool things
require("multi.compat.love2d") -- allows for multitasking and binds my libraries to the love2d engine that i am using
GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.loveManager").init() -- load the love2d version of the lanesManager
--IMPORTANT
-- Do not make the above local, this is the one difference that the lanesManager does not have
-- If these are local the functions will have the upvalues put into them that do not exist on the threaded side
-- You will need to ensure that the function does not refer to any upvalues in its code. It will print an error if it does though
-- Also each thread has a .1 second delay! This is used to generate a random values for each thread!
require("core.GuiManager") -- allows the use of graphics in the program.
gui.ff.Color=Color.Black
function comma_value(amount)
    local formatted = amount
    while true do
        formatted, k = string.gsub(formatted, "^(-?%d+)(%d%d%d)", '%1,%2')
        if (k==0) then
            break
        end
    end
    return formatted
end
multi:newSystemThread("test1",function() -- Another difference is that the multi library is already loaded in the threaded enviroment as well as a call to multi:mainloop()
    multi:benchMark(sThread.waitFor("Bench"),nil,"Thread 1"):OnBench(function(self,c) GLOBAL["T1"]=c multi:Stop() end)
end)
multi:newSystemThread("test2",function() -- spawns a thread in another lua process
    multi:benchMark(sThread.waitFor("Bench"),nil,"Thread 2"):OnBench(function(self,c) GLOBAL["T2"]=c multi:Stop() end)
end)
multi:newSystemThread("test3",function() -- spawns a thread in another lua process
    multi:benchMark(sThread.waitFor("Bench"),nil,"Thread 3"):OnBench(function(self,c) GLOBAL["T3"]=c multi:Stop() end)
end)
multi:newSystemThread("test4",function() -- spawns a thread in another lua process
    multi:benchMark(sThread.waitFor("Bench"),nil,"Thread 4"):OnBench(function(self,c) GLOBAL["T4"]=c multi:Stop() end)
end)
multi:newSystemThread("test5",function() -- spawns a thread in another lua process
    multi:benchMark(sThread.waitFor("Bench"),nil,"Thread 5"):OnBench(function(self,c) GLOBAL["T5"]=c multi:Stop() end)
end)
multi:newSystemThread("test6",function() -- spawns a thread in another lua process
    multi:benchMark(sThread.waitFor("Bench"),nil,"Thread 6"):OnBench(function(self,c) GLOBAL["T6"]=c multi:Stop() end)
end)
multi:newSystemThread("Combiner",function() -- spawns a thread in another lua process
    function comma_value(amount)
        local formatted = amount
        while true do
            formatted, k = string.gsub(formatted, "^(-?%d+)(%d%d%d)", '%1,%2')
            if (k==0) then
                break
            end
        end
        return formatted
    end
    local b=comma_value(tostring(sThread.waitFor("T1")+sThread.waitFor("T2")+sThread.waitFor("T3")+sThread.waitFor("T4")+sThread.waitFor("T5")+sThread.waitFor("T6")))
    GLOBAL["DONE"]=b
end)
multi:newThread("test0",function()
    -- sThread.waitFor("DONE") -- lets hold the main thread completely so we don't eat up cpu
    -- os.exit()
    -- when the main thread is holding there is a chance that error handling on the system threads may not work!
    -- instead we can do this
    while true do
        thread.skip(1) -- allow error handling to take place... Otherwise let’s keep the main thread running on the low
        -- Before we held just because we could... But this is a game and we need to have logic continue
        --sThreadM.sleep(.001) -- Sleeping for .001 is a great way to keep cpu usage down. Make sure if you aren't doing work to rest. Abuse the hell out of GLOBAL if you need to :P
        if GLOBAL["DONE"] then
            t.text="Bench: "..GLOBAL["DONE"]
        end
    end
end)
GLOBAL["Bench"]=3
t=gui:newTextLabel("no done yet!",0,0,300,100)
t:centerX()
t:centerY()

Update: 1.7.3

Changed how requiring the library works!
require("multi.all") Will still work as expected; however, with the exception of threading, compat, and integrations everything else has been moved into the core of the library.

-- This means that these are no longer required and will cause an error if done so
require("multi.loop")
require("multi.alarm")
require("multi.updater")
require("multi.tloop")
require("multi.watcher")
require("multi.tstep")
require("multi.step")
require("multi.task")
-- ^ they are all part of the core now

Update: 1.7.2

Moved updaters, loops, and alarms into the init.lua file. I consider them core features and they are referenced in the init.lua file so they need to exist there. Threaded versions are still separate though. Added another example file

Update: 1.7.1 Bug Fixes Only

Update: 1.7.0

Modified: multi.integration.lanesManager.lua
It is now in a stable and simple state Works with the latest lanes version! Tested with version 3.11 I cannot promise that everything will work with earlier versions. Future versions are good though.

Example Usage:

sThread is a handle to a global interface for system threads to interact with themselves

thread is the interface for multithreads as seen in the threading section

GLOBAL a table that can be used throughout each and every thread

sThreads have a few methods

sThread.set(name,val) — you can use the GLOBAL table instead modifies the same table anyway

sThread.get(name) — you can use the GLOBAL table instead modifies the same table anyway

sThread.waitFor(name) — waits until a value exists, if it does it returns it

sThread.getCores() — returns the number of cores on your cpu

sThread.sleep(n) — sleeps for a bit stopping the entire thread from running

sThread.hold(n) — sleeps until a condition is met

local GLOBAL,sThread=require("multi.integration.lanesManager").init()
require("multi.all")
multi:newAlarm(2):OnRing(function(self)
    GLOBAL["NumOfCores"]=sThread.getCores()
end)
multi:newAlarm(7):OnRing(function(self)
    GLOBAL["AnotherTest"]=true
end)
multi:newAlarm(13):OnRing(function(self)
    GLOBAL["FinalTest"]=true
end)
multi:newSystemThread("test",function() -- spawns a thread in another lua process
    require("multi.all") -- now you can do all of your coding with the multi library! You could even spawn more threads from here with the integration. You would need to require the interaction again though
    print("Waiting for variable: NumOfCores")
    print("Got it: ",sThread.waitFor("NumOfCores"))
    sThread.hold(function()
        return GLOBAL["AnotherTest"] -- note this would hold the entire systemthread. Spawn a coroutine thread using multi:newThread() or multi:newThreaded...
    end)
    print("Holding works!")
    multi:newThread("tests",function()
        thread.hold(function()
            return GLOBAL["FinalTest"] -- note this will not hold the entire systemthread. As seen with the TLoop constantly going!
        end)
        print("Final test works!")
        os.exit()
    end)
    local a=0
    multi:newTLoop(function()
        a=a+1
        print(a)
    end,.5)
    multi:mainloop()
end)
multi:mainloop()

Update: 1.6.0

Changed: steps and loops

-- Was
step:OnStep(function(pos,self) -- same goes for tsteps as well
    print(pos)
end)
multi:newLoop(function(dt,self)
    print(dt)
end)
-- Is now
step:OnStep(function(self,pos) -- same goes for tsteps as wellc
    print(pos)
end)
multi:newLoop(function(self,dt)
    print(dt)
end)

Reasoning I wanted to keep objects consistent, but a lot of my older libraries use the old way of doing things. Therefore, I added a backwards module

require("multi.all")
require("multi.compat.backwards[1,5,0]") -- allows for the use of features that were scrapped/changed in 1.6.0+

Update: 1.5.0

Added:

Update: 1.4.1 - First Public release of the library

IMPORTANT:
Every update I make aims to make things simpler more efficient and just better, but a lot of old code, which can be really big, uses a lot of older features. I know the pain of having to rewrite everything. My promise to my library users is that I will always have backwards support for older features! New ways may exist that are quicker and easier, but the old features/methods will be supported.
Note: Version 2.x.x sort of breaks this promise. Sorry about that, but a new major version means changes that had to be made. Not too much has changed though and base code is 100% compatiable. What changed was how you init the library and some files that were removed due to not really being used by what i have seen. The older backwards compat file was for an older version of the library that was changed before the public release had any traction. The goal is still to provide a easy way to multitask in lua. I’ll try my best however to ensure that not much changes and that changes are easy to make if they are introduced.