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

From: John Max Skaller (skaller_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-06-23 13:51:51

John Max Skaller wrote:

> > 2) For many them what we are asking is that the standard be changed to
> > reflect what their compilers are already doing.  Their compilers are
> > already supporting threading libraries; the idea is to standardize existing
> > behavior, not invent a whole new set of behaviors.
> 
>         Yes.

        But this is only half the story. Implementations
differ on crucial points, and it will be necessary
to specify a particular behaviour which may render
some of the implementations non-conforming.

        For example, your document suggests that
if an exception tries to escape out of the function
used to start a thread, terminate() should be called.
not all implementations may do that: the ones that
don't may have to be changed.

        This is OK too: here the committee is
inventing behaviour -- although it is probably
closer to choosing from several alternatives
which are all existing practice.

        There is of course a serious danger
standardising existing practice, since
existing practice is rarely that good, and rarely
universal.

-- 
John (Max) Skaller, mailto:skaller_at_[hidden]
10/1 Toxteth Rd Glebe NSW 2037 Australia voice: 61-2-9660-0850
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