Preface

The Multithreaded Programming Guide describes the multithreaded programming interfaces for POSIX and Solaris threads in the Solaris(TM) 2.5 system. This guide shows application programmers how to create new multithreaded programs and how to add multithreading to existing programs.

Although this guide covers both the POSIX and Solaris threads implementations, most topics assume a POSIX threads interest. Information applying to only Solaris threads is covered in a special chapter.

To understand this guide, a reader must be familiar with

• A UNIX^\256 SVR4 system--preferably the Solaris 2.5 system

• The C programming language--multithreading is implemented through the libthread library

• The principles of concurrent programming (as opposed to sequential programming)--multithreading requires a different way of thinking about function interactions. Some books you might want to read are:

  • Algorithms for Mutual Exclusion by Michel Raynal (MIT Press, 1986)

  • Concurrent Programming by Alan Burns & Geoff Davies (Addison-Wesley, 1993)

  • Distributed Algorithms and Protocols by Michel Raynal (Wiley, 1988)

  • Operating System Concepts by Silberschatz, Peterson, & Galvin (Addison-Wesley, 1991)

  • Principles of Concurrent Programming by M. Ben-Ari (Prentice-Hall, 1982)

Ordering Sun Documents

The SunDocs^SM program provides more than 250 manuals from Sun Microsystems, Inc. If you live in the United States, Canada, Europe, or Japan, you can purchase documentation sets or individual manuals using this program.

For a list of documents and how to order them, see the catalog section of SunExpress(TM) On The Internet at http://www.sun.com/sunexpress.

How This Guide Is Organized

Chapter 1, Covering Multithreading Basics, gives a structural overview of threads implementation in this release.

Chapter 2, Basic Threads Programming, discusses the general POSIX threads library routines, emphasizing creating a thread with default attributes.

Chapter 3, Thread Create Attributes , covers creating a thread with nondefault attributes.

Chapter 4, Programming with Synchronization Objects, covers the threads library synchronization routines.

Chapter 5, Programming with the Operating Environment, discusses changes to the operating environment to support multithreading.

Chapter 6, Safe and Unsafe Interfaces , covers multithreading safety issues.

Chapter 7, Compiling and Debugging, covers the basics of compiling and debugging multithreaded applications.

Chapter 8, Tools for Enhancing MT Programs, describes some of the tools available for gathering performance and debugging information about your multithreaded programs.

Chapter 9, Programming with Solaris Threads , covers the Solaris threads (as opposed to POSIX threads) interfaces.

Chapter 10, Programming Guidelines, discusses issues that affect programmers writing multithreaded applications.

Appendix A, Sample Application - Multithreaded grep, shows how code can be designed for POSIX threads.

Appendix B, Solaris Threads Example: barrier.c, shows an example of building a barrier in Solaris threads.

Appendix C, MT Safety Levels: Library Interfaces, lists the safety levels of library routines.

You can find additional useful information about multithreaded programming by browsing the following World Wide Web (WWW) site:

http://www.sun.com/sunsoft/Products/Developer-products/sig/threads

What Typographic Changes and Symbols Mean

Table P-1 describes the type changes and symbols used in this guide.

Table P-1 Typographic Conventions

Typeface or Symbol	Meaning	Example
AaBbCc123()	Commands, files, directories, and C functions; code examples	The fork1() function is new. Use ls -a to list all files.
AaBbCc123	Variables, titles, and emphasized words	The stack_size value is set by... You must specify a zero value.
AaBbCc123	What you type, contrasted with on-screen computer output	system% cc prog.c
page(#)	The man page name and section in the Solaris Reference Manual	See thr_create(3T).

Sections of program code in the main text are enclosed in boxes:

nt test (100);

 main()
 {
 	register int a, b, c, d, e, f;

 	test(a) = b & test(c & 0x1) & test(d & 0x1);