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LAT_PROC(8)                         LMBENCH                        LAT_PROC(8)


NAME

       lat_proc - process creation tests


SYNOPSIS

       lat_proc [ -P <parallelism> ] [ -W <warmups> ] [ -N <repetitions> ]
       procedure|fork|exec|shell


DESCRIPTION

       lat_proc creates processes in three different forms, each more
       expensive than the last.  The purposes is to measure the time that it
       takes to create a basic thread of control.

       The forms are listed and described below:

       Process fork+exit   The time it takes to split a process into two
                           (nearly) identical copies and have one exit.  This
                           is how new processes are created but is not very
                           useful since both processes are doing the same
                           thing.

       Process fork+execve The time it takes to create a new process and have
                           that new process run a new program.  This is the
                           inner loop of all shells (command interpreters).

       Process fork+/bin/sh -c
                           The time it takes to create a new process and have
                           that new process run a new program by asking the
                           system shell to find that program and run it.  This
                           is how the C library interface called system is
                           implemented.  It is the most general and the most
                           expensive.


OUTPUT

       Output is in microseconds per operation like so:

       Process fork+exit: 6054 microseconds
       Process fork+execve: 11212 microseconds
       Process fork+/bin/sh -c: 44346 microseconds


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

       Funding for the development of this tool was provided by Sun
       Microsystems Computer Corporation.


SEE ALSO

       lmbench(8).


AUTHOR

       Carl Staelin and Larry McVoy

       Comments, suggestions, and bug reports are always welcome.

(c)1994 Larry McVoy                 $Date$                         LAT_PROC(8)

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