Mmastodon TechnologySoftware first seen 6 h ago, last 4 h ago, peak #7
What a context switch actually costs developers
Original: Every backend engineer learns early on that threads are not free. We are told to keep thread pools bounded, avoid contex
A widely shared engineering post argues that while developers are drilled to bound thread pools and avoid context-switch storms, few can say what a context switch actually costs in time and money. It walks through the real overhead of switching between threads and why event loops and green threads are preferred for high concurrency, prompting discussion about how much folklore versus measurement shapes backend performance advice.
Why now: Developers enjoy revisiting fundamental performance assumptions with concrete numbers.
backend engineerscontext switchingthread poolsgreen threads
Evidence
- Every backend engineer learns early on that threads are not free. We are told to keep thread pools bounded, avoid context-switch storms, and prefer event loops or green threads for high concurrency. Yet if you ask a developer what a context switch actually costs, the answer is… · hackaday@www.urbanmind.net · 4
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