The task scheduling process is an essential component of game performance for developers. Crafting code that efficiently runs on Apple Silicon devices is crucial for maximizing game performance. Apple Silicon introduces new built-in GPUs and RAM for fast access and performance, along with various characteristics such as efficiency cores and performance cores that impact how code runs on these devices. Threads, which are the paths of code execution, run automatically on both types of cores, enabling seamless coordination for program execution.
Layers like the XNU kernel, the Mach microkernel core, and the execution scheduler work together with technologies like Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) and NSObjects to provide efficient software execution for the operating system and apps. GCD blocks work by executing a section of code and then completing the work and providing a result using callbacks or closures upon completion. Additionally, POSIX includes pthreads, and Apple’s NSThread object is a multithreading class that includes pthreads and some other scheduling information.
Guidelines for developers include reducing the workload placed on the CPU cores and GPUs to maximize performance, optimizing CPU cycles to avoid wasting any at runtime, and scaling thread counts based on CPU core count rather than the overall tasks thread count. Apple also recommends avoiding signaling and waiting, as well as parallelizing nested for loops and using job pools to leverage worker threads for improved performance.
Overall, there are various strategies and features of Apple Silicon that developers can leverage to achieve maximum efficiency and performance for their games, ensuring seamless gameplay and overall user satisfaction.
