SGV Linux Users Group - ZeroMQ Connect ALL the Things

NOTE: *** NEW VENUE *** Du-Par's is under new ownership with unfavorable room reservation requirements. Let's make a good impression with IHOP, whose management and staff are welcoming of our group. Please be considerate of the servers, who aren't used to dealing with our dinner crowd. Don't change seats once you sit down. Get your orders in early so they're not slammed in the kitchen. They can bill us by table. Tip generously. They don't expect everyone to order food, but a good 80% of us should be having some kind of dinner. Service might be a bit bumpy until they figure out what works for us.

This month we have a presentation by Dustin Laurence about ZeroMQ:

ZeroMQ: Connect ALL The Things

Writing applications in a multi-core, multi-threaded, multiprocess, networked world means communicating between many threads and processes over shared memory, IPC, and the network. This often involves multiple low-level libraries (e.g. most languages’ built-in threading, unix IPC, Berkeley sockets) with different programming paradigms, and may require a potential a scaling bottleneck in the form of a central server or broker to make it all manageable. ZeroMQ claims to be a better alternative, providing a single, higher-level message-passing toolkit across threads, processes, and networks, and languages, and specifically supports decentralized messaging. That should make it a slower, clunkier compromise for any one task, but it claims to be both better and easier to use for any one of those problems than a dedicated library. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so we’ll examine how it compares to standard threading and networking facilities and see how easily we can just connect all the things like Lego bricks, regardless of type or underlying transport. Of course it wouldn’t be any fun without including some very informal performance smackdowns.

Intending to become a programmer ("developer" hadn't been invented by the marketing department yet), Dustin got sidetracked and spent more time than he cares to admit doing theoretical physics, a background filled with continuous mathematics almost entirely irrelevant to computer science. He eventually returned to his original love of software. He avoids social media for the same reason he doesn't do crack cocaine.

About the SGVLUG

SGVLUG is one of the oldest and most active Linux User Groups in the Greater Los Angeles area. In addition to Linux, the group also shares interests in other free and open source software, all forms of technology, and the discussion of issues that arise with the these new tools, such as privacy rights. SGVLUG attracts members from throughout LA County including Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, and eastward throughout the San Gabriel Valley. Our members include software developers, system administrators, hardware engineers, and software users of all levels of experience. Many work in the technology field as employees, contractors or consultants, and enjoy the learning and networking opportunities available from the group. We also have many members that serve as volunteers of their time and skills at various local events, including the annual Southern California Linux Expo (SCaLE).