Pthreads in c

In a Unix/Linux operating system, the C/C++ languages provide the POSIX thread(pthread) standard API(Application program Interface) for all thread related functions.

It allows us to create multiple threads for concurrent process flow. It is most effective on multiprocessor or multi-core systems where threads can be implemented on a kernel-level for achieving the speed of execution. Gains can also be found in uni-processor systems by exploiting the latency in IO or other system functions that may halt a process.

We must include the pthread.h header file at the beginning of the script to use all the functions of the pthreads library.

To execute the c file, we have to use the -pthread or -lpthread in the command line while compiling the file.

cc -pthread file.c or cc -lpthread file.c

The functions defined in the pthreads library include:

1. pthread_create: used to create a new thread

   Syntax:

   int pthread_create(pthread_t * thread, const pthread_attr_t * attr, void * (*start_routine)(void *), void *arg);

   Parameters:

   • thread: pointer to
     how to use thread in cpp