c++ - Which std::async implementations use thread pools?

Question

One of the advantages of using std::async instead of manually creating std::thread objects is supposed to be that std::async can use thread pools under the covers to avoid oversubscription problems. But which implementations do this? My understanding is that Microsoft's implementation does, but what about these other async implementations?

• Gnu's libstdc++
• LLVM's libc++
• Just Software's library
• Boost (for boost::thread::async, not std::async)

Thanks for any information you can offer.

Answer 1

Black-Box Test

Though "white box" check can be done via inspecting boost, libstdc++ or libc++ sources, or checking documentation like just::thread or MSVC Concurrency Runtime, but I can not deny myself the pleasure of writing C++11 code!

I have made black-box test:

LIVE DEMO

#define BOOST_THREAD_PROVIDES_FUTURE
#define BOOST_RESULT_OF_USE_DECLTYPE
#include <boost/exception/exception.hpp>
#include <boost/range/algorithm.hpp>
#include <boost/move/iterator.hpp>
#include <boost/phoenix.hpp>
#include <boost/thread.hpp>
#include <boost/config.hpp>

#include <unordered_set>
#include <functional>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>
#include <iostream>
#include <ostream>
#include <cstddef>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <future>
#include <thread>
#include <chrono>
#include <mutex>

// _____________________[CONFIGURATION]________________________ //
namespace async_lib = std;
const bool work_is_sleep = false;
// ____________________________________________________________ //

using namespace std;
using boost::phoenix::arg_names::arg1;
using boost::thread_specific_ptr;
using boost::back_move_inserter;
using boost::type_name;
using boost::count_if;
using boost::copy;

template<typename Mutex>
unique_lock<Mutex> locker(Mutex &m)
{
    return unique_lock<Mutex>(m);
}

void do_work()
{
    if(work_is_sleep)
    {
        this_thread::sleep_for( chrono::milliseconds(20) );
    }
    else
    {
        volatile double result=0.0;
        for(size_t i=0; i!=1<<22; ++i)
            result+=0.1;
    }
}

int main()
{
    typedef thread::id TID;
    typedef async_lib::future<TID> FTID;

    unordered_set<TID> tids, live_tids;
    vector<FTID> ftids;
    vector<int> live_tids_count;
    async_lib::mutex m;
    generate_n
    (
        back_move_inserter(ftids), 64*thread::hardware_concurrency(),
        [&]()
        {
            return async_lib::async([&]() -> TID
            {
                static thread_specific_ptr<bool> fresh;
                if(fresh.get() == nullptr)
                    fresh.reset(new bool(true));
                TID tid = this_thread::get_id();
                locker(m),
                    live_tids.insert(tid),
                    live_tids_count.push_back(int(live_tids.size()) * (*fresh ? -1 : 1));
                do_work();
                locker(m),
                    live_tids.erase(tid);
                *fresh = false;
                return tid;
            });
        }
    );
    transform
    (
        begin(ftids), end(ftids),
        inserter(tids, tids.end()),
        [](FTID &x){return x.get();}
    );

    cout << "Compiler = " << BOOST_COMPILER                             << endl;
    cout << "Standard library = " << BOOST_STDLIB                       << endl;
    cout << "Boost = " << BOOST_LIB_VERSION                             << endl;
    cout << "future type = " << type_name<FTID>()                       << endl;
    cout << "Only sleep in do_work = " << boolalpha << work_is_sleep    << endl;
    cout << string(32,'_')                                              << endl;
    cout << "hardware_concurrency = " << thread::hardware_concurrency() << endl;
    cout << "async count = " << ftids.size()                            << endl;
    cout << "unique thread id's = " << tids.size()                      << endl;
    cout << "live threads count (negative means fresh thread):"                ;
    copy(live_tids_count, ostream_iterator<int>(cout," "));        cout << endl;
    cout << "fresh count = " << count_if(live_tids_count, arg1 < 0)     << endl;
}

---

Compiler = Microsoft Visual C++ version 11.0
Standard library = Dinkumware standard library version 540
Boost = 1_53
future type = class std::future<class std::thread::id>
Only sleep in do_work = false
________________________________
hardware_concurrency = 4
async count = 256
unique thread id's = 4
live threads count (negative means fresh thread):-1 -2 2 2 -3 -4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
fresh count = 4

---

Compiler = Microsoft Visual C++ version 11.0
Standard library = Dinkumware standard library version 540
Boost = 1_53
future type = class std::future<class std::thread::id>
Only sleep in do_work = true
________________________________
hardware_concurrency = 4
async count = 256
unique thread id's = 34
live threads count (negative means fresh thread):-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 -17 -18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18
 18 18 18 18 -19 19 -20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 -21 21 21 -22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 -
23 23 23 23 -24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 -25 25 25 25 25 -26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26
26 26 26 -27 27 27 27 27 27 -28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 -29 29 29 29 29 29 29 -30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30
 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 -31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 -32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 -33 33
 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 -34 34 34 34 34 34 34 34 34 11 12 11 12 13 14 15 16 15 10 11 12 13 14
fresh count = 34

---

Compiler = Microsoft Visual C++ version 11.0
Standard library = Dinkumware standard library version 540
Boost = 1_53
future type = class boost::future<class std::thread::id>
Only sleep in do_work = false
________________________________
hardware_concurrency = 4
async count = 256
unique thread id's = 256
live threads count (negative means fresh thread):-1 -2 -2 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -3 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4
 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -2 -3 -3 -3 -3 -4 -4 -4 -4 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3
 -2 -2 -3 -1 -2 -2 -3 -3 -1 -2 -1 -2 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2
 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -1 -2 -1 -2 -1 -2 -1 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2
 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -2 -2 -3 -1 -2 -1 -2 -2 -2 -3 -2 -3 -1 -2 -2 -2 -3 -2 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2
 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -3
fresh count = 256

---

Compiler = Microsoft Visual C++ version 11.0
Standard library = Dinkumware standard library version 540
Boost = 1_53
future type = class boost::future<class std::thread::id>
Only sleep in do_work = true
________________________________
hardware_concurrency = 4
async count = 256
unique thread id's = 256
live threads count (negative means fresh thread):-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 -26 -27 -2
8 -29 -30 -31 -32 -33 -34 -35 -36 -37 -38 -39 -40 -41 -42 -43 -44 -45 -46 -47 -48 -49 -50 -51 -52 -53 -54 -55 -56 -57 -58 -59 -60 -61 -62 -63 -64 -65
-66 -67 -68 -69 -70 -71 -72 -73 -74 -75 -76 -77 -78 -79 -80 -81 -82 -83 -84 -85 -86 -87 -88 -89 -90 -91 -92 -93 -94 -95 -96 -97 -98 -99 -100 -101 -102
 -103 -104 -105 -106 -107 -108 -109 -110 -111 -112 -113 -114 -115 -116 -117 -118 -119 -120 -121 -122 -123 -124 -125 -126 -127 -128 -129 -130 -131 -132
 -133 -134 -135 -136 -137 -138 -139 -140 -141 -142 -143 -144 -145 -146 -147 -148 -149 -150 -151 -152 -153 -154 -155 -156 -157 -158 -159 -160 -161 -162
 -163 -164 -165 -166 -167 -168 -169 -170 -171 -172 -173 -174 -175 -176 -177 -178 -179 -180 -181 -182 -183 -184 -185 -186 -187 -188 -189 -190 -191 -192
 -193 -194 -195 -196 -197 -198 -199 -200 -201 -202 -203 -204 -205 -206 -207 -208 -209 -210 -211 -212 -213 -214 -215 -216 -217 -218 -219 -220 -221 -222
 -223 -224 -225 -226 -227 -228 -229 -230 -231 -232 -233 -234 -235 -236 -237 -238 -239 -240 -241 -242 -243 -244 -245 -246 -247 -248 -249 -250 -251 -252
 -253 -254 -255 -256
fresh count = 256

---

Compiler = GNU C++ version 4.8.0-alpha20121216 20121216 (experimental)
Standard library = GNU libstdc++ version 20121216
Boost = 1_53
future type = std::future<std::thread::id>
Only sleep in do_work = false
________________________________
hardware_concurrency = 4
async count = 256
unique thread id's = 1
live threads count (negative means fresh thread):-1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
fresh count = 1

---

Compiler = GNU C++ version 4.8.0-alpha20121216 20121216 (experimental)
Standard library = GNU libstdc++ version 20121216
Boost = 1_53
future type = boost::future<std::thread::id>
Only sleep in do_work = false
________________________________
hardware_concurrency = 4
async count = 256
unique thread id's = 122
live threads count (negative means fresh thread):-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 -25 -26 -27 -28 -29 -29 -30 -31 -32 -33 -34 -35 -36 -37 -38 -39 -40 -41 -42 -43 -44 -45 -46 -47 -48 -49 -50 -51 -52 -53 -54 -55 -56 -57 -58 -59 -59 -60 -61 -62 -63 -64 -64 -64 -63 -61 -55 -48 -41 -33 -34 -27 -27 -28 -29 -29 -30 -31 -31 -30 -28 -29 -28 -28 -28 -29 -30 -30 -31 -30 -31 -31 -31 -32 -31 -26 -24 -25 -26 -25 -23 -23 -22 -20 -21 -19 -20 -20 -19 -20 -21 -21 -22 -21 -22 -23 -24 -24 -25 -26 -27 -25 -25 -25 -22 -23 -22 -23 -23 -24 -25 -26 -27 -27 -28 -29 -29 -30 -31 -32 -33 -34 -35 -36 -37 -38 -39 -40 -41 -42 -43 -44 -45 -46 -47 -48 -49 -50 -51 -51 -52 -53 -54 -55 -56 -57 -56 -54 -3 -3 -4 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 -17 -18 -19 -20 -21 -22 -23 -24 -25 -26 -27 -28 -29 -30 -31 -32 -33 -34 -35 -36 -37 -38 -39 -40 -41 -42 -43 -44 -45 -46 -47 -48 -49 -50 -51 -52 -53 -54 -55 -55 -56 -57 -58 -59 -60 -61 -61 -61 -62 -63 -64 -65 -64 -62 -63 -63 -61 -62 -61 -59 -60 -59 -57 -55 -56
fresh count = 256

---

Compiler = Clang version 3.2 (tags/RELEASE_32/final)
Standard library = libc++ version 1101
Boost = 1_53
future type = NSt3__16futureINS_11__thread_idEEE
Only sleep in do_work = false
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