[MLton] Multicore CPU's and MLton

[Daniel C. Wang]

Let me clarify a bit. Intel's high end Pentium 4 is running at 4ghz. 
However, its cheaper for me to buy a dual core pentinum D which as two 
cores running at around 2.4Ghz. This trend is a reality. All, processors 
will get faster by becoming more concurrent. In the past MLton was on 
the same performance curve as all the single thread apps on the desktop. 
Now, if MLton can't exploit the concurrency, MLton is just going to be 
using available CPU resources less and less efficiently. With coarse 
grain separate compilation for SML/NJ I can at least get parallel builds.

The processors didn't go multi-core because they wanted to. It's just a 
physical reality of hardware trends.  These hardware trends meshed with 
the current web server universe. My main application for my new box will 
be digital phtography, and ripping my DVD collection, both these tasks 
are easy to parallalize.