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> remove locks from code and replace with some kind of queue or messaging abstraction

Shared-nothing message passing reflects the underlying (modern) computer architecture more closely, so I'd call the above a good move. Shared memory / symmetric multiprocessing is an abstraction that leaks like a sieve; it no longer reflects how modern computers are built (multiple levels of CPU caches, cores, sockets, NUMA, etc).

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If you are doing pure shared nothing message passing, you do not need coherent caches; in fact cache coherency gets in the way of pure message passing.

Viceversa if you do pure message passing you are not benefitting from hardware accelerated cache coherency and leaving performance (and usability) on the floor.

That's good to hear! I am pretty removed from underlying hardware now, so it makes me happy to hear that better way of doing things is catching on even in low-level land.

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