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scalaparallel-collections

Is it a good idea to run `...par.map(` on large lists directly?

Let's say I have a somewhat large (several millions of items, or so) list of strings. Is it a good idea to run something like this:

val updatedList = myList.par.map(someAction).toList

Or would it be a better idea to group the list before running ...par.map(, like this:

val numberOfCores = Runtime.getRuntime.availableProcessors
val updatedList = 
  myList.grouped(numberOfCores).toList.par.map(_.map(someAction)).toList.flatten

UPDATE: Given that someAction is quite expensive (comparing to grouped, toList, etc.)

Solution

  • Run par.map directly, as it already takes the number of cores into account. However, do not keep a List, as that requires a full copy to make into a parallel collection. Instead, use Vector.