[HN Gopher] Linux Pipes Are Slow
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       Linux Pipes Are Slow
        
       Author : qsantos
       Score  : 24 points
       Date   : 2024-08-25 16:52 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (qsantos.fr)
 (TXT) w3m dump (qsantos.fr)
        
       | jheriko wrote:
       | just never use pipes. they are some weird archaism that need to
       | die :P
       | 
       | the only time ive used them is external constraints. they are
       | just not useful.
        
         | henearkr wrote:
         | Pipes are extremely useful. But I guess it just depends on your
         | use case. I do a lot of scripting.
         | 
         | If you dislike their (relative) slowness, it's open source, you
         | can participate in making them faster.
         | 
         | And I'm sure that after this HN post we'll see some patches and
         | merge requests.
        
           | noloblo wrote:
           | +1 yes pipes are what shell scripting quite useful and allow
           | for easy composition of the different unix shell utilities
        
           | hnlmorg wrote:
           | The very thing that makes pipes useful is what also makes
           | them slow. I don't think there is much we can do to fix that
           | without breaking POSIX compatibility entirely.
           | 
           | Personally I think there's much worse ugliness in POSIX than
           | pipes. For example, I've just spent the last couple of days
           | debugging a number of bugs in a shell's job control code
           | (`fg`, `bg`, `jobs`, etc).
           | 
           | But despite its warts, I'm still grateful we have something
           | like POSIX to build against.
        
         | akira2501 wrote:
         | > just never use pipes.
         | 
         | vmslice doesn't work with every type of file descriptor.
         | eschewing some technology entirely because it seems archaic or
         | because it makes writing "the fastest X software" seem harder
         | is just sloppy engineering.
         | 
         | > they are just not useful.
         | 
         | Then you have not written enough software yet to discover how
         | they are useful.
        
         | w0m wrote:
         | You can replace a 10k line python or shell script with a single
         | creative line of pipes/xargs/etc on the cli.
         | 
         | It's incredibly valuable on the day to day.
        
         | hagbard_c wrote:
         | That's like telling a builder never to use nails but turn to
         | adhesives instead. He will look at his hammer and his nails as
         | well as a stack of 2x4s, grin and in no time slap together a
         | box into which he will stuff you with a bottle of glue with the
         | advice to now go and play while the grown-ups take care of
         | business.
         | 
         | Sure, you could build that box with glue and clamps and ample
         | time, sure it would look neater and weigh less than the version
         | that's currently holding you imprisoned and if done right it
         | will even be stronger but it takes more time and effort as well
         | as those glue clamps and other specialised tools to create
         | perfect matching surfaces while the builder just wielded that
         | hammer and those nails and now is building yet another
         | utilitarian piece of work with the same hammer and nails.
         | 
         | Sometimes all you need is a hammer and some nails. Or pipes.
        
       | nitwit005 wrote:
       | Just about every form of IPC is "slow". You have decided to pay a
       | performance cost for safety.
        
       | djaouen wrote:
       | So is Python, but I'm still gonna use it lol
        
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       (page generated 2024-08-25 23:00 UTC)