thread-test.rb

require 'open-uri'
require 'benchmark'

def p
  print '.'
end

#non threaded
u = Benchmark.measure do
  open('http://www.yahoo.com').read;p
  open('http://www.newsweek.com').read;p
  open('http://www.amazon.com').read;p
end

puts "done #{u.real}"

#threaded
u = Benchmark.measure do
  [
   Thread.new { open('http://www.yahoo.com').read;p },
   Thread.new { open('http://www.newsweek.com').read;p },
   Thread.new { open('http://www.amazon.com').read;p }
  ].each { |x| x.join }
end

puts "done #{u.real}"