Atoms are simpler, and I believe more efficient, than refs. An atom can update itself atomically, but if you have two atoms, you cannot update both in the same atomic transaction. With two refs, you can.
In general, it's a good idea to use atoms unless you need the additional functionality that refs provide. - James On 30 September 2014 11:01, Joachim De Beule <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear list, > > I've got two threads that update the same location. One of them takes a > lot of time. Given this, my question is if there is a reason to prefer an > atom or a ref? > > i.e.: > > 1) with an atom: > > (def a (atom [])) > ;; the slow thread > (future (swap! a #(do (Thread/sleep 5000) (conj % 1)))) > ;; the fast thread: > (future (swap! a #(do (conj % 2)))) > > 2) with a ref: > > (def r (ref [])) > ;; the slow thread > (future (dosync (alter r #(do (Thread/sleep 5000) (conj % 1)))) > ;; the fast thread: > (future (dosync (alter r conj 2)))) > > Thanks! > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Clojure" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with > your first post. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Clojure" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
