C++ essential additions

ActorThread: Active Object pattern in C++

Implementation of the Active Object pattern wrapping a standard C++11 thread.

Simple

• Whole implementation contained in a single header file!
• Inherit from a template and you are done. See the tiny example bellow.

Main features

• Exchange messages of any type (does not requires them to derive from a common base class)
• Messages are asynchronously delivered in the same order they were sent
• Allows to invoke callbacks on clients of unknown type (useful for libraries)
• Callbacks on the active object auto-store themselves with no boilerplate code
• Timers ability with client-driven handlers (no need for handler↔object resolving maps)

Performance

• Internal lock-free MPSC messages queue
• Extensive internal use of move semantics supporting delivery of non-copiable objects
• Several million msg/sec between each two threads (both Linux and Windows) in ordinary hardware

Robustness

• The wrapped thread lifecycle overlaps and is driven by the object existence
• The object is kept alive by smart pointers (whoever has a reference can safely send messages)
• No internal strong references (only the final users determine the destruction/end)
• Nonetheless, callbacks onto already deleted active objects do not crash the application

Minimum compiler required

• Mininum gcc version supported is 4.8.0 (which added the thread_local keyword)
• Works with clang 3.3 and Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 (no previous versions tested on both)
• Clean, standard C++11 (no conditional code, same implementation for all platforms)

Example

// Linux:    g++ -std=c++11 -lpthread demo.cpp -o demo
// Windows:  cl.exe demo.cpp

#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <sstream>
#include "ActorThread.hpp"

struct Message { std::string description; };
struct OtherMessage { double beautifulness; };

class Consumer : public ActorThread<Consumer>
{
    friend ActorThread<Consumer>;
    void onMessage(Message& p)
    {
        std::cout << "thread " << std::this_thread::get_id()
                  << " receiving " << p.description << std::endl;
    }
    void onMessage(OtherMessage& p)
    {
        std::cout << "thread " << std::this_thread::get_id()
                  << " receiving " << p.beautifulness << std::endl;
    }
};

class Producer : public ActorThread<Producer>
{
    friend ActorThread<Producer>;
    std::shared_ptr<Consumer> consumer;
    void onMessage(std::shared_ptr<Consumer>& c)
    {
        consumer = c;
        timerStart(true, std::chrono::milliseconds(250), TimerCycle::Periodic);
        timerStart(3.14, std::chrono::milliseconds(333), TimerCycle::Periodic);
    }
    void onTimer(const bool&)
    {
        std::ostringstream report;
        report << "test from thread " << std::this_thread::get_id();
        consumer->send(Message { report.str() });
    }
    void onTimer(const double& value)
    {
        consumer->send(OtherMessage { value });
    }
};

class Application : public ActorThread<Application>
{
    friend ActorThread<Application>;
    void onStart()
    {
        auto consumer = Consumer::create(); // spawn new threads
        auto producer = Producer::create();
        producer->send(consumer);
        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(3));
        stop();
    }
};

int main()
{
    return Application::run(); // re-use existing thread
}

Despite received by reference, a copy of the original object is delivered to the destination thread. Alternatively, the carried object can be moved, which is the way to transfer non-copiable objects like a unique_ptr. Copying is highly efficient with pointers, but note that several threads must not concurrently access a unsafe pointed object.

See the examples folder for more elaborated examples, including a library and its client using the callbacks mechanism.