| Abstract: | High-level language primitives for concurrent programming exist in languages such as Ada and Modula-2. However, each of these languages provides only a single means for specifying multitasking and synchronization, essential in the implementation of concurrent systems. The SR language provides several mechanisms for specifying multi-tasking and synchronization, so it can be used to explore the performance of various communication techniques. This paper presents performance results for SR's multi-tasking and synchronization mechanisms and discusses the effects of the generated code, the run-time support and the hardware on these results. These results are compared with those for similar mechanisms in other languages, leading to some general conclusions about the performance of process communication primitives. These performance results can be used by programmers to make design choices that allow systems programs written in high-level languages to meet real-time performance specifications. |
