object references/memory access

["Martin v. Löwis"]

>>> I have found the stop-and-go between two processes on the same machine
>>> leads to very poor throughput. By stop-and-go, I mean the producer and
>>> consumer are constantly getting on and off of the CPU since the pipe
>>> gets full (or empty for consumer). Note that a producer can't run at
>>> its top speed as the scheduler will pull it out since it's output pipe
>>> got filled up.
> 
> On a single core CPU when only one process can be running, the
> producer must get off the CPU so that the consumer may start the
> draining process.

It's still not clear why you say that the producer can run "at its top
speed". You seem to be suggesting that in such a setup, the CPU would
be idle, i.e. not 100% loaded. Assuming that the consumer won't block
for something else, then both processes will run at their "top speed".
Of course, for two processes running at a single CPU, the top speed
won't be the MIPs of a single processor, as they have to share the CPU.

So when you say it leads to very poor throughput, I ask: compared
to what alternative?

Regards,
Martin