Re^6: Tk:Photo -data with binary data?

Still, using binary data seems to be faster:

use Tk;
use Benchmark qw(cmpthese);
use MIME::Base64 qw(encode_base64);
use LWP::Simple qw(get);

my $mw = tkinit;
my $file = Tk->findINC("Xcamel.gif");
my $data = get "file://$file"; # poor man's File::Slurp

cmpthese(-1,
     { base64 => sub {
           my $p = $mw->Photo(-data => encode_base64($data));
           $p->delete;
       },
       binary => sub {
           my $p = $mw->Photo(-data => $data);
           $p->delete;
       }
     }
    );
[download]

The result is:

$ perl5.9.5d -Mblib=/home/e/eserte/work/svk-checkouts/Tk-debug ~/trash
+/imgbench.pl
        Rate base64 binary
base64 574/s     --   -38%
binary 926/s    61%     --
[download]

I agree that the performance gain would be larger if no (unnecessary) conversion to utf-8 would occur at all. Maybe it's somehow possible to prevent this, for example by using a special reference or magics for the value of -data, which wouldn't be upgraded by Tcl_GetString calls.

But I think I have first to learn how the Perl/Tk internals work at all...

Comment on Re^6: Tk:Photo -data with binary data? Select or Download Code

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Re^7: Tk:Photo -data with binary data? by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Dec 15, 2006 at 01:39 UTC
Still, using binary data seems to be faster: Definitely worth having. I look forward to it filtering it's way through the chain into a an AS distribution. Maybe it's somehow possible to prevent this, for example by using a special reference or magics for the value of -data, which wouldn't be upgraded by Tcl_GetString calls. I'm not sure what you mean by a "special reference"? To me, it doesn't make sense to pass such large volumes of data (as images tend to be) by value. Especially if the receiver is going to have to make another copy when it gets it. If the call was designed to take a reference, then it could read the data directly from the callers space as it does whatever (the first) conversion is needed. That needn't even change the current interface. It just needs to test if it's been given a reference and do the current thing if not. But I think I have first to learn how the Perl/Tk internals work at all... Out of interest, how big are the sources for Perl/Tk? Anything beyond a few 10s of MB, and it gets silly trying to get an up to date copy via a 40kb/s connection. It changes faster than I can download it. Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. Lingua non convalesco, consenesco et abolesco. -- Rule 1 has a caveat! -- Who broke the cabal? "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.	[reply]
Re^8: Tk:Photo -data with binary data? by eserte (Deacon) on Dec 15, 2006 at 21:58 UTC
I'm not sure what you mean by a "special reference"? I should have said "blessed reference". Some new class, only used by Tk internally, which can be used to distinguish normal string data and strictly binary data. Out of interest, how big are the sources for Perl/Tk? As a .tar.gz it's 6MB. .tar.bz2 would safe 1MB.	[reply]