Now I am back to where I started, 1 response ever 1 or 2 seconds, too slow. Is there a simple solution to thread this properly?

Yes. Try this:

#! perl -slw
use strict;
use threads;
use threads::shared;
use Thread::Queue;
use LWP::Simple;

my $sem :shared;

sub lookup {
    my( $fh, $name ) = @_;
    my $lookup = get(
        "http://rscript.org/lookup.php?type=track&time=62899200&user=$
+name&skill=all"
    );

    print "Looking up $name...\n";

    if( $lookup =~ m/gain:Overall:\d+:(\d+)/isg ) {
        lock $sem;
        print { $fh } "$name $1\n";
    }
    elsif( $lookup =~ m/(ERROR)/isg ) {
        lock $sem;
        print { $fh } "$name doesn't exist \n"
    }
    else{
        lock $sem;
        print { $fh } "$name 0\n";
    }
}

our $THREADS //= 4;

my $names = 'zezima fred bill john jack';
my $Q = new Thread::Queue;

open( LOOKUP, '>>rstlookup.txt' ) or die $!;

my @threads = map async( sub {
    while( my $name = $Q->dequeue ) {
        lookup( \*LOOKUP, $name );
    }
} ), 1 .. $THREADS;


while( $names =~ m/([a-z0-9_]+)/isg ) {
    $Q->enqueue( $1 );
    sleep 1 while $Q->pending > $THREADS * 2;
}

$Q->enqueue( (undef) x $THREADS );

$_->join for @threads;

close( LOOKUP );

__END__
[15:38:57.93] C:\test>junk39
Looking up john...

Looking up bill...

Looking up fred...

Looking up zezima...

Looking up jack...


[15:39:03.07] C:\test>type rstlookup.txt
bill 0

fred 135601422

zezima 417155645

john 0

jack 8133157
[download]

This is actually a good case in point of my earlier post on threads. In a way, threads are like gatling guns: if you're The Terminator and can handle them, they can be very effective; for most people however they provide a million opportunities for shooting themselves in the foot. Unlike gatlings the holes produced may be rather subtle though, and may appear after a long time of seemingly successful use---the typical heisenbugs that appear once in a while, but never while you look closely.

The problem here is that print is not atomic, in fact most of stdio is taboo in threaded code without further protective measures. A thread may be preempted after writing a fraction of a buffer and then resume after another thread has written to the same file. In your example that waits a lot between printing lines, the probability for this to happen is really very small, but that doesn't mean it can't happen to the first two lines of output. Here's a script that provokes it:

use strict;
use threads;

open my $fh, '>', 'outfile' or die $!;
my $th = 0;
my @threads = map {
    $th++;
    async( sub { sleep(1); for(1 .. 30_000) { print $fh "Thread $th\n"
+ } } );
} (1 .. 500);
$_->join foreach @threads;
close $fh;
[download]

Sample output snippet:

Thread 3Thread 349
Threead 85
Thread Thread 333
Thre59
ad 349
Thread 3ad 333
Thread 3Thread 359
Thre49
33
ad 295
ThreThread 333
Thread 8Thread 338
ThreThread 350
[download]

For an application like retrieving a large number of web pages where waiting for the other side is the major cause of delays (so spreading it out over multiple cores has no significant advantage), the solution of choice is the state machine. Event based programming may look like a lot of work to wrap one's head around but in the end it's easier to understand than threads if you consider all the rather lowlevely race conditions and other synchronization issues that you have to think about to write thread code that always works and not just most of the time.

Regarding modules to facilitate the implementation of said state machine, one I found easy to use (actually the only one I've ever used in production code) is POE::Component::Client::UserAgentPOE::Component::Client::HTTP. (edited, it's been a while but the name didn't sound quite right) POE is rather heavyweight though (not that it mattered much here) so AnyEvent::Curl::Multi might be worth a look too.

This may be a little like buying the whole kitchen sink just to get the faucet knob, but Mojolicious contains Mojo::UserAgent, which can be used as a non-blocking event driven User Agent. The Mojolicious::Guides::Cookbook contains a section on "Non-blocking" User Agent examples.

I think the whole Mojolicious distribution is around 2-MB, which is a lot for just a user agent, but trivially small if you have a use for the other features as well. Plus, it has no external dependencies (one of the Mojolicious design goals, which some consider "a good thing").




Dave

The problem here is that print is not atomic ... Here's a script that provokes it:

Hm. And the fix is sooo complicated:

use strict;
use threads;
use threads::shared;

my $sem :shared;

open my $fh, '>', 'outfile' or die $!;
my $th = 0;
my @threads = map {
    $th++;
    async( sub { sleep(1); for(1 .. 30_000) { lock $sem; print $fh "Th
+read $th\n" } } );
} (1 .. 500);
$_->join foreach @threads;
close $fh;
[download]

A whole 3 lines.

Regarding modules to facilitate the implementation of said state machine, one I found easy to use (actually the only one I've ever used in production code) is POE::Component::Client::UserAgentPOE::Component::Client::HTTP. (edited, it's been a while but the name didn't sound quite right) POE is rather heavyweight though (not that it mattered much here) so AnyEvent::Curl::Multi might be worth a look too.

Okay, so where's the code? How about you run what you brung?

Betcha don't!

And if you do, betcha it takes you 10 times longer to write; requires 10 times as much (user) code; requires 20 times as many support modules that accumulate to be 30 times as much actual non-core code to trust the authors of and require outside support for when it goes wrong; and finally, runs slower and less efficiently than the 5 minute-to-write, 30 line threaded script above.

---

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

The start of some sanity?

Excellent, this has taught me a bit and is greatly appreciated!

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but installing and configuring my new motherboard took longer than anticipated.

Please re-fresh the threaded code I posted from above. I added a fix.

---

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

The start of some sanity?

For quickly looking up a bunch of addresses, AnyEvent::DNS may be of help.