Why events are a bad idea (for high concurrency servers) - von Behren et al. 2003 Amongst the authors of this paper you'll also find Eric Brewer, of CAP-theorem fame. This is part 3 of a mini-series on thread-based vs event-based programming models. In part 1 we saw the argument that they are equivalent. Despite ... Continue Reading

Why threads are a bad idea (for most purposes) - Ousterhout 1995 Today is part 2 of 5 in a week dedicated to threads and events. Yesterday we saw the argument from Lauer and Needham that thread-based and event-based models are equivalent (duals). Despite that, Oustehout would have you believe that threads are a bad ... Continue Reading

On the Duality of Operating System Structures - Lauer and Needham, 1978 The pendulum currently says "threads and locks are bad, events are good." Vigourous defences are mounted in favour of one system over the other, and manifestos are written. Nowadays this debate rages over the best way to build applications and frameworks, but it ... Continue Reading