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toalett/multiprocessing
=======================

Context for easy multiprocessing

v1.1(5y ago)28MITPHPPHP >=7.4

Since Dec 14Pushed 5y ago1 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/toalett-io/multiprocessing)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/toalett/multiprocessing)[ Docs](https://github.com/toalett/php-multiprocessing)[ RSS](/packages/toalett-multiprocessing/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 1mo ago

READMEChangelogDependencies (3)Versions (2)Used By (0)

🚽 Toalett
=========

[](#-toalett)

Welcome to Toalett, a humble initiative based around the idea that all software is 💩.
Toalett is the Norwegian word for toilet. It feels fancier than plain "toilet".

Why `toalett/multiprocessing`?
------------------------------

[](#why-toalettmultiprocessing)

[Multiprocessing](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiprocessing) is a technique that is often used in PHP (cli) applications to execute tasks asynchronously. Due to the lack of native [multithreading](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multithreading_(computer_architecture)) in PHP, developers have to rely on good old multiprocessing to do this.

We often see code that's written in a quick and dirty way to accomplish this task, with calls to `pcntl_fork()` hidden somewhere, leading to ugly implementations.

Toalett has nothing against quick and dirty PHP code, but since multiprocessing so common, it might be nice to use this library.

Okay, how do I use it?
----------------------

[](#okay-how-do-i-use-it)

Install it with [composer](https://getcomposer.org/):

```
$ composer require toalett/multiprocessing
```

### Structure

[](#structure)

The library provides a single class to manage multiprocessing: the [`Context`](src/Context.php). It uses [`react/event-loop`](https://reactphp.org/event-loop/) internally and emits events using the simple (but elegant) [`evenement/evenement`](https://github.com/igorw/Evenement) library. It delegates tasks to the internal [`Workers`](src/Workers.php) component, which in turn is responsible for creating and managing child processes.

### Creating a [`Context`](src/Context.php)

[](#creating-a-context)

This library comes with the [`ContextBuilder`](src/ContextBuilder.php) class which is used to build a [`Context`](src/Context.php). It can be supplied with a [`Concurrency`](src/Concurrency.php) limit (defaults to unlimited), a custom instance of `\React\EventLoop\LoopInterface` and an [`Interval`](src/Task/Interval.php) at which a cleanup of child processes should be performed. To create a [`Context`](src/Context.php), you simply call the `build()`method:

```
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\ContextBuilder;

$builder = ContextBuilder::create();
$context = $builder->build();
```

### Submitting a job

[](#submitting-a-job)

Use the `Context::submit` method to submit a job:

```
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\ContextBuilder;

$context = ContextBuilder::create()->build();

$job = static function(string $name) {
    print("Hello from {$name}!\n");
    usleep(500_000);
    print("Goodbye from ${name}!\n");
};

$context->submit($job, 'John Snow');
```

Jobs are not executed until the `Context::run` method is called.
In order to execute this job 5 times, using at most two processes, we would do:

```
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\Concurrency;
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\ContextBuilder;

$context = ContextBuilder::create()
    ->withConcurrency(Concurrency::atMost(2))
    ->build();

// $job = function(...)...

foreach(['John', 'Stannis', 'Jorah', 'Robert', 'Daario'] as $name) {
    $context->submit($job, $name);
}

$context->run();
```

If you want to submit a job using an interval, you are encouraged to use a custom event loop instead of `sleep()`or `usleep()` to prevent blocking the main process (and thus pausing the event loop):

```
use React\EventLoop\Factory;
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\ContextBuilder;

$loop = Factory::create();
$context = ContextBuilder::create()
    ->withEventLoop($loop)
    ->build();

// Submit a job every 5 seconds
$loop->addPeriodicTimer(5.0, fn() => $context->submit(...));
$context->run();
```

Events
------

[](#events)

The context emits events when something of interest happens. You can add event listeners using the `Context::on` method:

```
$context->on('name_of_event', fn() => ...);
```

These are the events emitted by the context:

1. `booted`
2. `worker_started`
3. `worker_stopped`
4. `congestion`
5. `congestion_relieved`
6. `no_workers_remaining`
7. `stopped`

#### 1. The `booted` event

[](#1-the-booted-event)

This event is emitted after `$context->run()` is called. This is the very first event dispatched by the context. It is dispatched as soon as the event loop has started.

#### 2. The `worker_started` event

[](#2-the-worker_started-event)

This event is emitted when a worker has been started (the process has been forked). The PID of the child process is supplied as an argument to a listener.

#### 3. The `worker_stopped` event

[](#3-the-worker_stopped-event)

This event is emitted when a worker has been stopped (child process has stopped). The PID of the child process is supplied as an argument to a listener.

#### 4. The `congestion` event

[](#4-the-congestion-event)

This event is emitted when the imposed concurrency limit is reached. This happens when (for example) the concurrency is set to at most 2 child processes, and a third task gets submitted while 2 tasks are already running. The system naively waits for a child to stop before starting another worker.

#### 5. The `congestion_relieved` event

[](#5-the-congestion_relieved-event)

This event is emitted when congestion is relieved. This means that a child has stopped, allowing for the execution of a new task.

#### 6. The `no_workers_remaining` event

[](#6-the-no_workers_remaining-event)

This event is emitted when there are no workers left running. This usually means there is no more work to do. It's possible to automatically stop the context when this event occurs. This is shown in the first and last example.

#### 7. The `stopped` event

[](#7-the-stopped-event)

The context can be stopped by calling `Context::stop`. When the workers and the event loop are succesfully stopped, the context emits a `stopped` event.

Examples
--------

[](#examples)

For most developers, the quickest way to learn something is by looking at examples. Three executable examples are provided.

### [Counting stopped workers using events](bin/counting_stopped_workers.php)

[](#counting-stopped-workers-using-events)

This is a simple example, which demonstrates event emission with the creation of 50 jobs. A counter is incremented every time a job stops. When all jobs are done, the context is stopped.

The cleanup interval may be set to a low value to improve responsiveness.

```
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\ContextBuilder;
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\Task\Interval;

const NUM_JOBS = 50;

$context = ContextBuilder::create()
    ->withCleanupInterval(Interval::seconds(0.5))
    ->build();

$counter = new Counter();
$context->on('worker_stopped', [$counter, 'increment']);
$context->on('no_workers_remaining', [$context, 'stop']);
$context->on('stopped', fn() => printf(" %d\n", $counter->value));

for ($i = 0; $i < NUM_JOBS; $i++) {
    $context->submit(fn() => sleep(2));
    print('.');
}

$context->run();
```

### [Triggering congestion with 4 workers](bin/triggering_congestion.php)

[](#triggering-congestion-with-4-workers)

This example is a bit more elaborate than the previous one. It serves to demonstrate congestion and how it is handled by the context: the context simply blocks all execution until a worker stops and a spot becomes available.

Watch for the occurence of 'C' in the output. This denotes congestion: a worker could not be started.

```
use React\EventLoop\Factory;
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\ContextBuilder;
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\Concurrency;

$loop = Factory::create();
$context = ContextBuilder::create()
    ->withEventLoop($loop)
    ->withConcurrency(Concurrency::atMost(4))
    ->build();

$context->on('booted', fn() => print("🚽 toalett context booted\n"));
$context->on('congestion', fn() => print('C'));
$context->on('congestion_relieved', fn() => print('R'));
$context->on('worker_started', fn() => print('+'));
$context->on('worker_stopped', fn() => print('-'));

// A job is submitted to the context every second.
// The job sleeps for a random amount of seconds (0 - 10).
$loop->addPeriodicTimer(1, fn() => $context->submit(fn(int $s) => sleep($s), random_int(0, 10)));

print("Press CTRL+C to stop.\n");
$context->run();
```

### [Single worker with a Job class](bin/single_worker_with_job_class.php)

[](#single-worker-with-a-job-class)

Since a task is really just a [`Closure`](https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.closure.php), it's also possible to submit an object with an implementation of the `__invoke()` magic method.

In this example, execution is limited to a single worker, and jobs are instances of the [`Job`](bin/classes/Job.php)class.

```
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\Concurrency;
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\ContextBuilder;
use Toalett\Multiprocessing\Task\Interval;

$context = ContextBuilder::create()
    ->withConcurrency(Concurrency::singleWorker())
    ->withCleanupInterval(Interval::seconds(0.2))
    ->build();

for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++) {
    $title = md5(mt_rand());
    $context->submit(new Job($title));
}

$context->on('no_workers_remaining', [$context, 'stop']);
$context->run();
```

Tests
-----

[](#tests)

Tests can be found in the [`src/Tests`](src/Tests) directory.

###  Health Score

24

—

LowBetter than 32% of packages

Maintenance20

Infrequent updates — may be unmaintained

Popularity7

Limited adoption so far

Community8

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity53

Maturing project, gaining track record

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Unknown

Total

1

Last Release

1974d ago

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/354e41b4e3f076892667d134069d733b8ece2f4879904c0638eb40500332a8e6?d=identicon)[Joop Schilder](/maintainers/Joop%20Schilder)

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/03595909ac421f84fa7cebf40aea80f705559bdced93d9d0928e2a4fe30a954a?d=identicon)[toalett-io](/maintainers/toalett-io)

---

Top Contributors

[![joopschilder](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/23739275?v=4)](https://github.com/joopschilder "joopschilder (15 commits)")

---

Tags

jobtaskmultiprocessingthreadingmulticore

###  Code Quality

TestsPHPUnit

### Embed Badge

![Health badge](/badges/toalett-multiprocessing/health.svg)

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```

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