Re: Threads

From: scleary_at_[hidden]
Date: 2000-08-04 12:46:03

> I'm also 
> unaware of any problems specifically with critical sections being 
> statically initialized under Win32.

Under pthreads, you can do:
  pthread_mutex_t mtx = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
Under Win32, there's no such thing.

> . . . but unless 
> there's a language change then static initialization is problematic 
> at best any way, since there's no gaurantee about the order or 
> concurrency requirements of using static data with multiple threads.

All static initialization is done before dynamic initialization (and
therefore before any threads could be created).

> Regardless, I don't see how any of this applies here, since neither 
> library need be used for the implementation details here.  (Not that 
> I'm saying they shouldn't or won't be...).
>
> The mutex, especially, need not rely on any underlying support from 
> another thread library in it's implementation.  If we're to devise a 
> proper library we may need to ignore the existance of other threading 
> libraries.  Yes, the implications you mention need to be discussed 
> thoroughly, but that's precisely what I'm trying to get started here.

Um. . . if you're talking about doing an entire user-level thread library,
then you've got quite a project ahead of you.  I was thinking of something
more along the lines of a thin-as-possible wrapper over Win32, pthreads,
etc.

        -Steve