[ML] Threading optimisations

include/core/CConcurrentQueue.h

@@ -132,14 +132,11 @@ class CConcurrentQueue final : private CNonCopyable {
 
 private:
     void waitWhileEmpty(std::unique_lock<std::mutex>& lock) {
-        while (m_Queue.empty()) {
-            m_ConsumerCondition.wait(lock);
-        }
+        m_ConsumerCondition.wait(lock, [this] { return m_Queue.size() > 0; });
     }
     void waitWhileFull(std::unique_lock<std::mutex>& lock) {
-        while (m_Queue.size() >= QUEUE_CAPACITY) {
-            m_ProducerCondition.wait(lock);
-        }
+        m_ProducerCondition.wait(
+            lock, [this] { return m_Queue.size() < QUEUE_CAPACITY; });
     }
 
     void notifyIfNoLongerFull(std::unique_lock<std::mutex>& lock, std::size_t oldSize) {

include/core/CDataFrame.h

@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ class CORE_EXPORT CDataFrame final {
         TWriteSliceToStoreFunc m_WriteSliceToStore;
         TFloatVec m_RowsOfSliceBeingWritten;
         TInt32Vec m_DocHashesOfSliceBeingWritten;
-        future<TRowSlicePtr> m_SliceWrittenAsyncToStore;
+        std::future<TRowSlicePtr> m_SliceWrittenAsyncToStore;
         TRowSlicePtrVec m_SlicesWrittenToStore;
     };
     using TRowSliceWriterPtr = std::unique_ptr<CDataFrameRowSliceWriter>;

include/core/CStaticThreadPool.h

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 #include <core/Concurrency.h>
 #include <core/ImportExport.h>
 
-#include <boost/any.hpp>
 #include <boost/optional.hpp>
 
 #include <atomic>
@@ -26,11 +25,11 @@ namespace core {
 //!
 //! IMPLEMENTATION:\n
 //! This purposely has very limited interface and is intended to mainly support
-//! CThreadPoolExecutor. This provides the mechanism by which we expose the thread
+//! CThreadPoolExecutor which provides the mechanism by which we expose the thread
 //! pool to the rest of the code via calls core::async.
 class CORE_EXPORT CStaticThreadPool {
 public:
-    using TTask = std::packaged_task<boost::any()>;
+    using TTask = std::function<void()>;
 
 public:
     explicit CStaticThreadPool(std::size_t size);
@@ -49,10 +48,7 @@ class CORE_EXPORT CStaticThreadPool {
     //! and is suitable for our use case where we don't need to guaranty that this
     //! always returns immediately and instead want to exert back pressure on the
     //! thread scheduling tasks if the pool can't keep up.
-    void schedule(std::packaged_task<boost::any()>&& task);
-
-    //! Executes the specified function in the thread pool.
-    void schedule(std::function<void()>&& f);
+    void schedule(TTask&& task);
 
     //! Check if the thread pool has been marked as busy.
     bool busy() const;

include/core/Concurrency.h

@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@
 #include <core/CLoopProgress.h>
 #include <core/ImportExport.h>
 
-#include <boost/any.hpp>
-
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <functional>
 #include <future>
@@ -72,7 +70,7 @@ auto bindRetrievableState(FUNCTION&& function, STATE&& state) {
 class CExecutor {
 public:
     virtual ~CExecutor() = default;
-    virtual void schedule(std::packaged_task<boost::any()>&& f) = 0;
+    virtual void schedule(std::function<void()>&& f) = 0;
     virtual bool busy() const = 0;
     virtual void busy(bool value) = 0;
 };
@@ -105,35 +103,21 @@ CORE_EXPORT
 std::size_t defaultAsyncThreadPoolSize();
 
 namespace concurrency_detail {
-template<typename F>
-boost::any resultToAny(F& f, const std::false_type&) {
-    return boost::any{f()};
+template<typename F, typename P>
+void invokeAndWriteResultToPromise(F& f, P& promise, const std::false_type&) {
+    try {
+        promise->set_value(f());
+    } catch (...) { promise->set_exception(std::current_exception()); }
 }
-template<typename F>
-boost::any resultToAny(F& f, const std::true_type&) {
-    f();
-    return boost::any{};
+template<typename F, typename P>
+void invokeAndWriteResultToPromise(F& f, P& promise, const std::true_type&) {
+    try {
+        f();
+        promise->set_value();
+    } catch (...) { promise->set_exception(std::current_exception()); }
 }
-
-template<typename R>
-class CTypedFutureAnyWrapper {
-public:
-    CTypedFutureAnyWrapper() = default;
-    CTypedFutureAnyWrapper(std::future<boost::any>&& future)
-        : m_Future{std::forward<std::future<boost::any>>(future)} {}
-
-    bool valid() const { return m_Future.valid(); }
-    void wait() const { m_Future.wait(); }
-    R get() { return boost::any_cast<R>(m_Future.get()); }
-
-private:
-    std::future<boost::any> m_Future;
-};
 }
 
-template<typename R>
-using future = concurrency_detail::CTypedFutureAnyWrapper<R>;
-
 //! An version of std::async which uses a specified executor.
 //!
 //! \note f must be copy constructible.
@@ -146,18 +130,22 @@ using future = concurrency_detail::CTypedFutureAnyWrapper<R>;
 //! them. Prefer using high level primitives, such as parallel_for_each, which are
 //! safer.
 template<typename FUNCTION, typename... ARGS>
-future<std::result_of_t<std::decay_t<FUNCTION>(std::decay_t<ARGS>...)>>
+std::future<std::result_of_t<std::decay_t<FUNCTION>(std::decay_t<ARGS>...)>>
 async(CExecutor& executor, FUNCTION&& f, ARGS&&... args) {
     using R = std::result_of_t<std::decay_t<FUNCTION>(std::decay_t<ARGS>...)>;
 
     // Note g stores copies of the arguments in the pack, which are moved into place
     // if possible, so this is safe to invoke later in the context of a packaged task.
     auto g = std::bind<R>(std::forward<FUNCTION>(f), std::forward<ARGS>(args)...);
 
-    std::packaged_task<boost::any()> task([g_ = std::move(g)]() mutable {
-        return concurrency_detail::resultToAny(g_, std::is_same<R, void>{});
-    });
-    auto result = task.get_future();
+    auto promise = std::make_shared<std::promise<R>>();
+    auto result = promise->get_future();
+
+    std::function<void()> task(
+        [ g_ = std::move(g), promise_ = std::move(promise) ]() mutable {
+            concurrency_detail::invokeAndWriteResultToPromise(
+                g_, promise_, std::is_same<R, void>{});
+        });
 
     // Schedule the task to compute the result.
     executor.schedule(std::move(task));
@@ -167,41 +155,41 @@ async(CExecutor& executor, FUNCTION&& f, ARGS&&... args) {
 
 //! Wait for all \p futures to be available.
 template<typename T>
-void wait_for_all(const std::vector<future<T>>& futures) {
+void wait_for_all(const std::vector<std::future<T>>& futures) {
     std::for_each(futures.begin(), futures.end(),
-                  [](const future<T>& future) { future.wait(); });
+                  [](const std::future<T>& future) { future.wait(); });
 }
 
 //! Wait for a valid future to be available otherwise return immediately.
 template<typename T>
-void wait_for_valid(const future<T>& future) {
+void wait_for_valid(const std::future<T>& future) {
     if (future.valid()) {
         future.wait();
     }
 }
 
 //! Wait for all valid \p futures to be available.
 template<typename T>
-void wait_for_all_valid(const std::vector<future<T>>& futures) {
+void wait_for_all_valid(const std::vector<std::future<T>>& futures) {
     std::for_each(futures.begin(), futures.end(), wait_for_valid);
 }
 
 //! \brief Waits for a future to complete when the object is destroyed.
 template<typename T>
 class CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope {
 public:
-    CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope(future<T>& future) : m_Future{future} {}
+    CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope(std::future<T>& future) : m_Future{future} {}
     ~CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope() { wait_for_valid(m_Future); }
     CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope(const CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope&) = delete;
     CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope& operator=(const CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope&) = delete;
 
 private:
-    future<T>& m_Future;
+    std::future<T>& m_Future;
 };
 
 //! Get the conjunction of all \p futures.
 CORE_EXPORT
-bool get_conjunction_of_all(std::vector<future<bool>>& futures);
+bool get_conjunction_of_all(std::vector<std::future<bool>>& futures);
 
 namespace concurrency_detail {
 class CORE_EXPORT CDefaultAsyncExecutorBusyForScope {
@@ -287,7 +275,7 @@ parallel_for_each(std::size_t partitions,
     // ensure the best possible locality of reference for reads which occur
     // at a similar time in the different threads.
 
-    std::vector<future<bool>> tasks;
+    std::vector<std::future<bool>> tasks;
 
     for (std::size_t offset = 0; offset < partitions; ++offset, ++start) {
         // Note there is one copy of g for each thread so capture by reference
@@ -371,7 +359,7 @@ parallel_for_each(std::size_t partitions,
 
     // See above for the rationale for this access pattern.
 
-    std::vector<future<bool>> tasks;
+    std::vector<std::future<bool>> tasks;
 
     for (std::size_t offset = 0; offset < partitions; ++offset, ++start) {
         // Note there is one copy of g for each thread so capture by reference

lib/core/CDataFrame.cc

@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ CDataFrame::TRowFuncVecBoolPr CDataFrame::sequentialApplyToAllRows(std::size_t b
         // function each slice is then concurrently read by the callback
         // on a worker thread.
 
-        future<void> backgroundApply;
+        std::future<void> backgroundApply;
 
         // We need to wait and this isn't guaranteed by the future destructor.
         CWaitIfValidWhenExitingScope<void> waitFor(backgroundApply);

lib/core/CStaticThreadPool.cc

@@ -49,14 +49,18 @@ void CStaticThreadPool::schedule(TTask&& task_) {
     if (i == end) {
         m_TaskQueues[i % size].push(std::move(task));
     }
-    m_Cursor.store(i + 1);
-}
 
-void CStaticThreadPool::schedule(std::function<void()>&& f) {
-    this->schedule(TTask([g = std::move(f)] {
-        g();
-        return boost::any{};
-    }));
+    // For many small tasks the best strategy for minimising contention between the
+    // producers and consumers is to 1) not yield, 2) set the cursor to add tasks on
+    // the queue for the thread on which a task is popped. This gives about twice the
+    // throughput of this strategy. However, if there are a small number of large
+    // tasks they must be added to different queues to ensure the work is parallelised.
+    // For a general purpose thread pool we must avoid that pathology. If we need a
+    // better pool for very fine grained threading we'd be better investing in a
+    // somewhat lock free bounded queue: for a fixed memory buffer it is possible to
+    // safely add and remove elements at different ends of a queue of length greater
+    // than one.
+    m_Cursor.store(i + 1);
 }
 
 bool CStaticThreadPool::busy() const {
@@ -75,10 +79,7 @@ void CStaticThreadPool::shutdown() {
     // Signal to each thread that it is finished. We bind each task to a thread so
     // so each thread executes exactly one shutdown task.
     for (std::size_t id = 0; id < m_TaskQueues.size(); ++id) {
-        TTask done{[&] {
-            m_Done = true;
-            return boost::any{};
-        }};
+        TTask done{[&] { m_Done = true; }};
         m_TaskQueues[id].push(CWrappedTask{std::move(done), id});
     }
 
@@ -99,6 +100,7 @@ void CStaticThreadPool::worker(std::size_t id) {
     };
 
     TOptionalTask task;
+    std::size_t size{m_TaskQueues.size()};
 
     while (m_Done == false) {
         // We maintain "worker count" queues and each worker has an affinity to a
@@ -108,7 +110,6 @@ void CStaticThreadPool::worker(std::size_t id) {
         // if everything is working well we have essentially no contention between
         // workers on queue reads.
 
-        std::size_t size{m_TaskQueues.size()};
         for (std::size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
             task = m_TaskQueues[(id + i) % size].tryPop(ifAllowed);
             if (task != boost::none) {
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ void CStaticThreadPool::worker(std::size_t id) {
         // and the producer(s) will be waiting to add a task as each one is consumed.
         // By switching to work on a new queue here we minimise contention between the
         // producers and consumers. Testing on bare metal (OSX) the overhead per task
-        // dropped from around 2.2 microseconds to 1.5 microseconds by yielding here.
+        // dropped by around 120% by yielding here.
         std::this_thread::yield();
     }
 }
@@ -156,11 +157,12 @@ bool CStaticThreadPool::CWrappedTask::executableOnThread(std::size_t id) const {
 }
 
 void CStaticThreadPool::CWrappedTask::operator()() {
-    try {
-        m_Task();
-    } catch (const std::future_error& e) {
-        LOG_ERROR(<< "Failed executing packaged task: '" << e.code() << "' "
-                  << "with error '" << e.what() << "'");
+    if (m_Task != nullptr) {
+        try {
+            m_Task();
+        } catch (const std::exception& e) {
+            LOG_ERROR(<< "Failed executing task with error '" << e.what() << "'");
+        }
     }
 }
 }

lib/core/Concurrency.cc

@@ -19,21 +19,21 @@ namespace {
 //! \brief Executes a function immediately (on the calling thread).
 class CImmediateExecutor final : public CExecutor {
 public:
-    virtual void schedule(std::packaged_task<boost::any()>&& f) { f(); }
-    virtual bool busy() const { return false; }
-    virtual void busy(bool) {}
+    void schedule(std::function<void()>&& f) override { f(); }
+    bool busy() const override { return false; }
+    void busy(bool) override {}
 };
 
 //! \brief Executes a function in a thread pool.
 class CThreadPoolExecutor final : public CExecutor {
 public:
     explicit CThreadPoolExecutor(std::size_t size) : m_ThreadPool{size} {}
 
-    virtual void schedule(std::packaged_task<boost::any()>&& f) {
-        m_ThreadPool.schedule(std::forward<std::packaged_task<boost::any()>>(f));
+    void schedule(std::function<void()>&& f) override {
+        m_ThreadPool.schedule(std::forward<std::function<void()>>(f));
     }
-    virtual bool busy() const { return m_ThreadPool.busy(); }
-    virtual void busy(bool value) { return m_ThreadPool.busy(value); }
+    bool busy() const override { return m_ThreadPool.busy(); }
+    void busy(bool value) override { return m_ThreadPool.busy(value); }
 
 private:
     CStaticThreadPool m_ThreadPool;
@@ -115,14 +115,14 @@ CExecutor& defaultAsyncExecutor() {
     return singletonExecutor.get();
 }
 
-bool get_conjunction_of_all(std::vector<future<bool>>& futures) {
+bool get_conjunction_of_all(std::vector<std::future<bool>>& futures) {
 
     // This waits until results are present. If we get an exception we still want
     // to wait until all results are ready in case continuing destroys state access
     // which a worker thread reads. We just rethrow the _last_ exception we received.
     std::exception_ptr e;
     bool result{std::accumulate(futures.begin(), futures.end(), true,
-                                [&e](bool conjunction, future<bool>& future) {
+                                [&e](bool conjunction, std::future<bool>& future) {
                                     try {
                                         // Don't shortcircuit
                                         bool value = future.get();