Re: [boost] Re: Threads docs updated in CVS

From: John Max Skaller (skaller_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-08-14 17:57:16

Peter Dimov wrote:

> * I (to express a non-field-expert view) don't have the slightest idea what
> "joining a thread" means; I think that when a function waits for a thread to
> finish, it should be called "waitForThreadToFinish", not "join."

        I agree, but aren't you prepared to learn a few new terms?
I mean, it isn't as if Bill is bombarding us with new terminology.
You could argue 'mutex' should be 'MutualExclusionLock'.
Its true. But hey, you sail on my boat, and I want to sing out
'haul in the jib sheet', not 'pull that rope you see attached to the 
flapping corner of the sail on the front of the boat and secure it
inside those strange flapper things attached to the upper surface of
the boat near the right hand side over there' -- by which time we
just capsized.

> * I get the impression that the current meaning of boost::thread::join does
> not exactly match the established meaning of the term.

        The term is loose and abstract. Bill's meaning is more like

        'ensure_joined'

or

        'ensure_thread_is_dead'

Perhaps the best name is:

        post_mortem

:-)

-- 
John (Max) Skaller, mailto:skaller_at_[hidden] 
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