Re: Boost.Threads - name of the "thread" type

From: williamkempf_at_[hidden]
Date: 2001-06-22 09:05:04

--- In boost_at_y..., Lois Goldthwaite <loisg_at_o...> wrote:
> Bill Kempf wrote:
> >>static thread * create(void (*threadfunc)(void*), void* param); 
> Greg Colvin wrote:
> > Is the ugly (void (*threadfunc)(void*), void* param) really 
needed?
> 
> I haven't dug into your code, but let us not forget that any 
function
> used to create a thread must have extern "C" linkage.

This isn't really true, AFAIK.  The underlying thread libraries all 
require their own linkage specifications, but they are not 
universally extern "C".  (In fact, Windows threads require __cdecl 
for _beginthread() and __stdcall for _beginthreadex()).  So unless 
you're suggesting that our own interfaces require an extern "C" 
linkage (and I can't fathom why), then you're incorrect here.

> A class member
> function, even a static one, won't do. FYI, the Objectspace threads
> library uses an internal driver function with "C" linkage, taking a
> single void * parameter, which points to a structure containing the 
real
> thread_func and param pointers. So when the thread starts running 
the
> driver function, the first thing it does is invoke threadfunc
(param).

And this makes it sound like you're really discussing the underlying 
implementations and not our interface.  In which case I'd guess 
you're too intimate with pthreads, because this linkage requirement 
is not the linkage requirement of all thread libraries.  Don't worry, 
however, the implementation of Boost.Threads handles the linkage 
properly for each implementation.

Bill Kempf