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pthread(3T)							   pthread(3T)

NAME
       pthread - introduction to POSIX.1c threads

DESCRIPTION
       The  POSIX.1c library developed by HP enables the creation of processes
       that can exploit application and multiprocessor	platform  parallelism.
       The  pthread library libpthread consists of over 90 standardized inter‐
       faces for developing concurrent applications  and  synchronizing	 their
       actions within processes or between them.  This manual page presents an
       overview of libpthread including terminology and	 how  to  compile  and
       link programs which use threads.

COMPILATION SUMMARY
       A  multithreaded application must define the appropriate POSIX revision
       level (199506) at compile time and link	against	 the  pthread  library
       with For example:

       All program sources must also include the header file

       Note:  If  is  explicitly  specified  in the link line, then it must be
       after the Refer to pthread_stubs(5) for more details.

       Note: When explicitly specifying ANSI compilation (with "-Aa"),	defin‐
       ing  the POSIX revision level restricts the program to using interfaces
       within the POSIX namespaces.  If interfaces in the larger X/Open names‐
       pace are to be called, either of the compiler options, or must be spec‐
       ified in addition to Alternatively, compiling with -Ae (or not specify‐
       ing "-A") will implicitly specify

       Note:  Some  documentation  will	 recommend the use of for compilation.
       Although this also functions properly, it is considered an  obsolescent
       form.

THREAD OVERVIEW
       A  thread  is an independent flow of control within a process, composed
       of a context (which includes a register set and a program counter)  and
       a sequence of instructions to execute.

       All processes consist of at least one thread.  Multi-threaded processes
       contain several threads.	 All threads share the	common	address	 space
       allocated for the process.  A program using the POSIX pthread APIs cre‐
       ates and manipulates what are called user threads.  A kernel thread  is
       a kernel-schedulable entity which may support one or more user threads.
       At HP-UX release 11i Version 1.6 and forward, the HP-UX threads	imple‐
       mentation  supports  many-to-any	 as well as one-to-one mapping between
       user and kernel threads.

       Each thread is assigned a unique identifier of type pthread_t upon cre‐
       ation.	The  thread  id is a process-private value and implementation-
       dependent.  It is considered to be an opaque  handle  for  the  thread.
       Its value should not be used by the application.

NOTES ON INTERFACES
       The  HP-UX  system provides some non-standard extensions to the pthread
       API.  These will always have a distinguishing suffix of or  (non-porta‐
       ble).

       The  programmer	should	always	consult the manpages for the functions
       being used.  Some standard-specified functions are not available or may
       have no effect in some implementations.

THREAD CREATION/DESTRUCTION
       A  program  creates  a  thread using the function.  When the thread has
       completed its work, it may optionally  call  the	 function,  or	simply
       return  from  its initial function.  A thread can detect the completion
       of another by using the function.

       Creates a thread and assigns a unique identifier,
				pthread_t.  The	 caller	 provides  a  function
				which will be executed by the thread.  Option‐
				ally, the call	may  explicitly	 specify  some
				attributes for the thread (see below).

       Called by a thread when it completes.
				This function does not return.

       This is analogous to	but  for  pthreads.   Any  thread may join any
				other thread in the process, there is no  par‐
				ent/child  relationship.   It  returns	when a
				specified thread terminates,  and  the	thread
				resources have been reaped.

       Makes it unnecessary to "join" the thread.
				Thread	resources  are reaped by the system at
				the time the thread terminates.

PTHREAD ATTRIBUTES
       A set of thread attributes may be provided to Any changes from  default
       values  must  be	 made to the attribute set before the call to is made.
       Subsequent changes to the attribute  set	 do  not  affect  the  created
       thread.	However, the attribute set may be used in multiple calls.

       Note  that  only	 the  "detachstate",  "schedparam", "schedpolicy", and
       "processor" attributes of a thread may be effected subsequent to thread
       creation.  However, this is done by the and functions, respectively.

       Initializes an attribute set for use in the
					  call.

       Destroys the content of an attribute set.

	      These   functions	  get/set  the	associated  attribute  in  the
	      attribute	 set.	See  the  manpages  for	 these	functions  for
	      descriptions of the attributes.

       This is used to set the default stacksize for threads created in
	      subsequent  attribute  set initializations (calls to or in where
	      no attributes are supplied.

CANCELLATION
       Certain applications may desire to terminate a particular thread	 with‐
       out  causing  the  entire process to exit.  A thread may be canceled by
       another thread in the same process while the cancellation target thread
       executes a system call or particular library routine.

       When  a thread issues a cancel request against another thread, the tar‐
       get thread can check to see if a request is pending against it  by  the
       interface.   When called with a request pending, the target thread ter‐
       minates after executing	any  cleanup  handlers	which  may  have  been
       installed.   Cleanup handlers may be used to delete any dynamic storage
       allocated by the canceled thread, to unlock a mutex,  or	 other	opera‐
       tions.

       Typically,  the	cancellation  type for a thread is deferred.  That is,
       cancellation requests are held pending until the thread reaches a  can‐
       cellationpoint  which  is simply one of a list of library functions and
       system calls (see lists below).

       The thread may set its cancellation type to asynchronous.  In this case
       cancellation  requests  are  acted  upon at any time.  This can be used
       effectively in compute-bound threads which do not  call	any  functions
       that are cancellation points.

       Cancel execution of a given thread.

       Called by a thread to process pending cancel requests.

	      Set the characteristics of cancellation for the thread.  Cancel‐
	      lation may be enabled or disabled, or it may be  synchronous  or
	      deferred.

	      Register or remove cancellation cleanup handlers.

       Refer  to  thread_safety(5)  for the list of cancellation points in the
       pthread library, system functions, and libc.

       For libc functions, whether the thread is cancelled depends  upon  what
       action is performed while executing the function.  If the thread blocks
       while inside the function, a cancellation point is created  (i.e.,  the
       thread  may  be	cancelled).   Other  libraries	may  have cancellation
       points.	Check the associated documentation for details.

       The list of cancellation points will vary from release to release.   In
       general, if a function can return with an error, chances are that it is
       a cancellation point.

SCHEDULING
       Threads may individually control their scheduling  policy  and  priori‐
       ties.   Threads	may also suspend their own execution, or that of other
       threads.	 Finally, threads are given some control  over	allocation  of
       processor resources.

       This function is used to temporarily stop the execution of a thread.

	      These  functions cause a previously suspended thread to continue
	      execution.

	      These functions are used to interrogate processor	 configuration
	      and to bind a thread to a specific processor.

	      These  functions	are used to control the actual concurrency for
	      unbound threads.

	      These functions are used to manipulate the scheduling policy and
	      priority for a thread.

	      These functions are used to interrogate the priority range for a
	      given scheduling policy.

       This function is used by a thread to yield the processor to other
			   threads of equal or greater priority.

COMMUNICATION & SYNCHRONIZATION
       Multi-threaded applications concurrently execute instructions.	Access
       to  process-wide	 (or  interprocess)  shared  resources	(memory,  file
       descriptors, etc.) requires mechanisms for coordination or synchroniza‐
       tion  among  threads.   The  libpthread	library offers synchronization
       primitives necessary to create a deterministic application.   A	multi‐
       threaded application ensures determinism by forcing asynchronous thread
       contexts to synchronize, or serialize, access to	 data  structures  and
       resources  managed  and manipulated during run-time.  These are mutual-
       exclusion (mutex) locks, condition  variables,  and  read-write	locks.
       The  HP-UX  operating  system  also provides POSIX semaphores (see next
       section).

       Mutexes furnish the means to exclusively	 guard	data  structures  from
       concurrent modification.	 Their protocol precludes more than one thread
       which has locked the mutex from changing the contents of the  protected
       structure until the locker performs an analogous mutex unlock.  A mutex
       can be initialized in two ways: by a call to or by assignment of

       Condition Variables are used by a thread to wait for the occurrence  of
       some  event.  A thread detecting or causing such an event can signal or
       broadcast that occurrence to the waiting thread or threads.

       Read-Write locks permit concurrent read access by multiple  threads  to
       structures  guarded  by	a  read-write lock, but write access by only a
       single thread.

	      Initialize/destroy contents of a mutex lock.

	      Lock/unlock a mutex.

	      Manipulate mutex locking priorities.

	      Manage  mutex  attributes	 used  for  Only   the	 "prioceiling"
	      attribute can be changed for an exiting mutex.

	      These  functions, together with the spin attributes, are used to
	      tune mutex performance to the specific application.

	      Initialize/destroy contents of a read-write lock.

	      Wait upon or signal occurrence of a condition variable.

	      Manage condition variable attributes used for

	      Initialize/destroy contents of a read-write lock.

	      Lock/unlock a read-write lock.

	      Manage read-write lock attributes used for

   POSIX 1.b SEMAPHORES
       The semaphore functions specified in the POSIX 1.b standard can also be
       used for synchronization in a multithreaded application.

	      Initialize/destroy contents of a semaphore.

	      Increment/decrement semaphore value (possibly blocking).

SIGNALS
       In a multithreaded process, all threads share signal actions.  That is,
       a signal handler established by one thread  is  used  in	 all  threads.
       However, each thread has a separate signal mask, by which it can selec‐
       tively block signals.

       Signals can be sent to other threads within the	same  process,	or  to
       other  processes.   When	 a  signal is sent to the process, exactly one
       thread which does not have that signal blocked will handle the  signal.
       When  sent to a thread within the same process, that thread will handle
       the signal, perhaps later if the	 signal	 is  blocked.	Signals	 whose
       action is to terminate, stop, or continue will terminate, stop, or con‐
       tinue the entire process, respectively, even if directed at a  particu‐
       lar thread.

       Sends a signal to the given thread.

       Blocks selected signals for the thread.

	      These functions synchronously wait for given signals.

THREAD-SPECIFIC DATA
       Thread-specific	data  (TSD) is global data that is private or specific
       to a thread.  Each thread has a different value for  the	 same  thread-
       specific	 data  variable.   The	global	errno  is a perfect example of
       thread-specific global data.

       Each thread-specific data item is associated with a key.	  The  key  is
       shared  by  all threads.	 However, when a thread references the key, it
       references its own private copy of the data.

	      These functions manage the thread-specific data keys.

	      These functions retrieve and assign the  data  value  associated
	      with a key.

       The HP-UX compiler supports a thread local storage (TLS) storage class.
       (This is not a POSIX standard  feature.)	  TLS  is  identical  to  TSD,
       except  functions are not required to create/set/get values.  TLS vari‐
       ables are accessed just like normal global  variables.	TLS  variables
       can be declared using the following syntax:

       The keyword tells the compiler that is a TLS variable.  Now each thread
       can set or get TLS with statements such as:

       Each thread will have a different value associated with

       TLS variables can be statically initialized.  Uninitialized  TLS	 vari‐
       ables  will  be	set  to	 zero.	Dynamically loaded libraries (with can
       declare and use TLS variables.

       TLS does have a cost in thread creation/termination operations, as  TLS
       space  for each thread must be allocated and initialized, regardless of
       whether it will ever use the  variables.	  This	is  true  for  modules
       linked statically at startup.  In case of dynamically loaded liabraries
       (with TLS space for a thread will be allocated when the	TLS  variables
       are  accessed  by it.  If few threads actually use a large TLS area, it
       may be wise to use the POSIX TSD instead (above).

REENTRANT LIBC & STDIO
       Because they return pointers to library-internal static data, a	number
       of  libc	 functions  cannot be used in multithreaded programs.  This is
       because calling these functions in a thread will overwrite the  results
       of  previous  calls  in other threads.  Alternate functions, having the
       suffix (for reentrant), are provided within libc for threaded  program‐
       ming.

       Also,  some  primitives	for synchronization of standard I/O operations
       are provided.

	      Provide reentrant versions of  previously	 existing  libc	 func‐
	      tions.

	      Provide explicit synchronization for standard I/O streams.

MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS
       The section summarizes some miscellaneous pthread-related functions not
       covered in the preceding sections.

       Establish special functions to be called just prior to and
				just subsequent to a operation.

       Tests whether two pthread_t values represent the same pthread.

       Executes given function just once in a process, regardless of
				how many threads make the same call.   (Useful
				for one-time data initialization.)

       Returns identifier (pthread_t) of calling thread.

THREAD DEBUGGING
       Debugging  of multithreaded programs is supported in the standard HP-UX
       debugger, When any thread is to be stopped due to a debugger event, the
       debugger	 will  stop  all threads.  The register state, stack, and data
       for any thread can be interrogated and manipulated.

       See the dde(1) manpage and built-in  graphical  help  system  for  more
       information.

TRACING FACILITIES
       HP-UX  provides	a tracing facility for pthread operations.  To use it,
       you must link  your  application	 using	the  tracing  version  of  the
       library:

       When  the  application  is  executed,  it produces a per-thread file of
       pthread events.	This is used as input to the thread  trace  visualizer
       facility available in the

       There are environment variables defined to control trace data files:

       Where to place the trace data files.
	      If  this	is  not	 defined,  the files go to the current working
	      directory.

       By default, trace records are buffered and only written
	      to the file when the buffer is full.  If this variable is set to
	      any  non-NULL  value,  data  is immediately written to the trace
	      file.

       By default, all pthread events are traced.
	      If this variable is defined, only the categories defined will be
	      traced.	Each  category	is  separated  by a ':'.  The possible
	      trace categories are:

	      For example, to only trace thread and mutex operations  set  the
	      variable to:

       Details of the trace file record format can be found in

       See  the	 ttv(1)	 manpage  and  built-in graphical help system for more
       information on the use of the trace information.

PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS
       Often, an application is designed to be multithreaded to	 improve  per‐
       formance	 over  its  single-threaded counterparts.  However, the multi‐
       threaded approach requires some attention to issues not always of  con‐
       cern in the single-threaded case.  These are issues traditionally asso‐
       ciated with the programming of multiprocessor systems.

       The design must employ a	 lock  granularity  appropriate	 to  the  data
       structures  and	access	patterns.  Coarse-grained locks, which protect
       relatively large amounts of data,  can  lead  to	 undesired  lock  con‐
       tention, reducing the potential parallelism of the application.	On the
       other hand, employing very fine-grained locks, which protect very small
       amounts	of  data,  can	consume processor cycles with too much locking
       activity.

       The use of thread-specific data (TSD) or thread-localstorage (TLS) must
       be traded off, as described above (see

       Mutex  spin  and	 yield	frequency attributes can be used to tune mutex
       behavior to the application.  See pthread_mutexattr_setspin_np(3T)  and
       pthread_mutex_setyieldfreq_np(3T) for more information.

       The  default  stacksize	attribute  can be set to improve system thread
       caching behavior.  See pthread_default_stacksize_np(3T) for more infor‐
       mation.

       Because	multiple threads are actually running simultaneously, they can
       be accessing the same data from multiple processors.  The hardware pro‐
       cessors	coordinate  their  caching  of	data such that no processor is
       using stale data.  When one processor accesses the data (especially for
       write  operations), the other processors must flush the stale data from
       their caches.  If multiple processors repeatedly	 read/write  the  same
       data,  this  can	 lead  to cache-thrashing which slows execution of the
       instruction stream.  This can also occur when threads  access  separate
       data  items  which  just happen to reside in the same hardware-cachable
       unit (called a cache line).  This latter	 situation  is	called	false-
       sharing	which  can  be avoided by spacing data such that popular items
       are not stored close together.

GLOSSARY
       The following definitions were extracted from the  text	ThreadTime  by
       Scott   J.   Norton   and   Mark	 D.  DiPasquale,  Prentice-Hall,  ISBN
       0-13-190067-6, 1996.

   Application Programming Interface (API)
       An interface is the conduit that provides access to an entity or commu‐
       nication	 between  entities.   In  the  programming world, an interface
       describes how access (or communication) with  a	function  should  take
       place.  Specifically, the number of parameters, their names and purpose
       describe how to access a function.  An API is the  facility  that  pro‐
       vides access to a function.

   Async-Cancel Safe
       A  function that may be called by a thread with the cancelability state
       set to and the cancelability type set to If a thread is canceled in one
       of  these functions, no state is left in the function.  These functions
       generally do not acquire resources to perform the function's task.

   Async-Signal Safe
       An async-signal safe function is a function that may  be	 called	 by  a
       signal  handler.	  Only	a  restricted  set  of functions may safely be
       called by a signal handler.  These  functions  are  listed  in  section
       3.3.1.3 of the POSIX.1c standard.

   Asynchronous Signal
       An  asynchronous	 signal	 is a signal that has been generated due to an
       external event.	Signals sent by and signals  generated	due  to	 timer
       expiration  or  asynchronous  I/O  completion are all examples of asyn‐
       chronously generated signals.  Asynchronous signals  are	 delivered  to
       the process.  All signals can be generated asynchronously.

   Atfork Handler
       Application-provided  and  registered  functions that are called before
       and after a operation.  These functions	generally  acquire  all	 mutex
       locks  before  the and release these mutex locks in both the parent and
       child processes after the

   Atomic Operation
       An operation or sequence of events that is guaranteed to complete as if
       it were one instruction.

   Barrier
       A  synchronization primitive that causes a certain number of threads to
       wait or rendezvous at specified points in an application.  Barriers are
       used when a application needs to ensure that all threads have completed
       some operation before proceeding onto the next task.

   Bound Thread
       A user thread that is directly  bound  to  a  kernel-scheduled  entity.
       These  threads  contain	a  system  scheduling  scope and are scheduled
       directly by the kernel.

   Cache Thrashing
       Cache thrashing is a situation in which a thread executes on  different
       processors,  causing  cached data to be moved to and from the different
       processor caches.  Cache thrashing can cause severe performance	degra‐
       dation.

   Cancellation Cleanup Handler
       An  application-provided	 and registered function that is called when a
       thread is canceled.  These functions generally perform  thread  cleanup
       actions during thread cancellation.  These handlers are similar to sig‐
       nal handlers.

   Condition Variable
       A condition variable is a synchronization primitive  used  to  allow  a
       thread  to  wait	 for  an event.	 Condition variables are often used in
       producer-consumer problems where a producer must provide	 something  to
       one or more consumers.

   Context Switch
       The act of removing the currently running thread from the processor and
       running another thread.	A context switch saves the register  state  of
       the  currently  running	thread	and restores the register state of the
       thread chosen to execute next.

   Critical Section
       A section of code that must complete atomically and  uninterrupted.   A
       critical section of code is generally one in which some global resource
       (variables, data structures, linked  lists,  etc.)  is  modified.   The
       operation  being	 performed  must  complete  atomically	so  that other
       threads do not see the critical section in an inconsistent state.

   Deadlock
       A deadlock occurs when one or more threads can no longer execute.   For
       example,	 thread	 A  holds lock 1 and is blocked on lock 2.  Meanwhile,
       thread B holds lock 2 and is blocked on lock 1.	Threads A  and	B  are
       permanently  deadlocked.	  Deadlocks  can  occur	 with  any  number  of
       resource holding threads.  An interactive deadlock involves two or more
       threads.	 A recursive (or self) deadlock involves only one thread.

   Detached Thread
       A  thread whose resources are automatically released by the system when
       the thread terminates.  A detached thread cannot be joined  by  another
       thread.	Consequently, detached threads cannot return an exit status.

   Joinable Thread
       A  thread whose termination can be waited for by another thread.	 Join‐
       able threads can return an exit status to a joining  thread.   Joinable
       threads	maintain some state after termination until they are joined by
       another thread.

   Kernel Mode
       A mode of operation where all operations are allowed.  While  a	thread
       is executing a system call it is executing in kernel mode.

   Kernel Space
       The  kernel  program  exists in this space.  Kernel code is executed in
       this space at the highest privilege level.  In general, there  are  two
       privilege  levels: one for user code (user mode) and the other for ker‐
       nel code (kernel mode).

   Kernel Stack
       When a thread makes a system call, it executes in kernel	 mode.	 While
       in  kernel  mode,  it  does  not use the stack allocated for use by the
       application.  Instead, a separate kernel stack is  used	while  in  the
       system  call.   Each kernel-scheduled entity, whether a process, kernel
       thread or lightweight process, contains a kernel stack.	See Stack  for
       a generic description of a stack.

   Kernel Thread
       Kernel  threads	are  created  by  the  thread functions in the threads
       library.	 Kernel threads are kernel-scheduled entities that are visible
       to the operating system kernel.	A kernel thread typically supports one
       or more user threads.  Kernel threads execute  kernel  code  or	system
       calls  on behalf of user threads.  Some systems may call the equivalent
       of a kernel thread a lightweightprocess.	  See  Thread  for  a  generic
       description of a thread.

   Lightweight Process
       A  kernel-scheduled  entity.  Some systems may call the equivalent of a
       lightweight process a kernel thread.  Each process contains one or more
       lightweight process.  How many lightweight processes a process contains
       depends on whether and how the process is  multithreaded.   See	Thread
       for a generic description of a thread.

   Multiprocessor
       A  system  with	two  or more processors (CPUs).	 Multiprocessors allow
       multithreaded applications to obtain true parallelism.

   Multithreading
       A programming model that allows an application to have multiple threads
       of execution.  Multithreading allows an application to have concurrency
       and parallelism (on multiprocessor systems).

   Mutex
       A mutex is a mutual exclusion synchronization primitive.	 Mutexes  pro‐
       vide  threads  with  the	 ability  to  regulate	or serialize access to
       process shared data and resources.  When a thread locks a mutex,	 other
       threads	trying to lock the mutex block until the owning thread unlocks
       the mutex.

   POSIX
       Portable Operating System Interface.  POSIX defines a set of  standards
       that  multiple  vendors	conform to in order to provide for application
       portability.  The Pthreads standard (POSIX 1003.1c) provides a  set  of
       portable multithreading APIs to application developers.

   Priority Inversion
       A situation where a low-priority thread has acquired a resource that is
       needed by  a  higher  priority  thread.	 As  the  resource  cannot  be
       acquired,  the  higher priority thread must wait for the resource.  The
       end result is that a low-priority thread blocks a high-priority thread.

   Process
       A process can be thought of as a container for one or more  threads  of
       execution,  an  address	space, and shared process resources.  All pro‐
       cesses have at least one thread.	 Each thread in the  process  executes
       within	the   process'	address	 space.	  Examples  of	process-shared
       resources  are  open  file  descriptors,	 message  queue	  descriptors,
       mutexes, and semaphores.

   Process Control Block (PCB)
       This structure holds the register context of a process.

   Process Structure
       The  operating system maintains a process structure for each process in
       the system.  This structure represents the actual process internally in
       the  system.   A	 sample	 of process structure information includes the
       process ID, the process' set of open files, and the signal vector.  The
       process	structure  and	the values contained within it are part of the
       context of a process.

   Program Counter (PC)
       The program counter is part of the register context of a	 process.   It
       holds the address of the current instruction to be executed.

   Race Condition
       When  the result of two or more threads performing an operation depends
       on unpredictable timing factors, this is a race condition.

   Read-Write Lock
       A read-write lock is a  synchronization	primitive.   Read-write	 locks
       provide	threads	 with  the  ability to regulate or serialize access to
       process-shared data and resources.   Read-write	locks  allow  multiple
       readers	to  concurrently acquire the read lock whereas only one writer
       at a time may acquire the write	lock.	These  locks  are  useful  for
       shared data that is mostly read and only rarely written.

   Reentrant Function
       A  reentrant  function  is  one	that  when called by multiple threads,
       behaves as if the function was called serially, one after  another,  by
       the different threads.  These functions may execute in parallel.

   Scheduling Allocation Domain
       The set of processors on which a thread is scheduled.  The size of this
       domain may dynamically change over time.	 Threads  may  also  be	 moved
       from one domain to another.

   Scheduling Contention Scope
       The  scheduling	contention  scope  defines the group of threads that a
       thread competes with for access to resources.  The contention scope  is
       most  often associated with access to a processor.  However, this scope
       may also be used when threads compete  for  other  resources.   Threads
       with  the  system  scope compete for access to resources with all other
       threads in the system.  Threads with  the  process  scope  compete  for
       access to resources with other process scope threads in the process.

   Scheduling Policy
       A  scheduling  policy  is a set of rules used to determine how and when
       multiple threads are scheduled to execute.  The scheduling policy  also
       determines how long a thread is allowed to execute.

   Scheduling Priority
       A  scheduling  priority is a numeric priority value assigned to threads
       in certain scheduling policies.	Threads	 with  higher  priorities  are
       given preference when scheduling decisions are made.

   Semaphore
       A semaphore is similar to a mutex.  A semaphore regulates access to one
       or more shared objects.	A semaphore has a value	 associated  with  it.
       The  value is generally set to the number of shared resources regulated
       by the semaphore.  When a semaphore has a value of one, it is a	binary
       semaphore.   A  mutex  is essentially a binary semaphore.  When a sema‐
       phore has a value greater than one, it is known as a countingsemaphore.
       A  counting semaphore can be locked by multiple threads simultaneously.
       Each time the semaphore is locked, the value  is	 decremented  by  one.
       After  the value reaches zero, new attempts to lock the semaphore cause
       the locking thread to block until the semaphore is unlocked by  another
       thread.

   Shared Object
       A  shared  object is a tangible entity that exists in the address space
       of a process and is accessible by all threads within the	 process.   In
       the  context  of multithreaded programming, "shared objects" are global
       variables, file descriptors, and other such objects that require access
       by threads to be synchronized.

   Signal
       A  signal is a simplified IPC mechanism that allows a process or thread
       to be notified of an event.  Signals can be generated synchronously and
       asynchronously.

   Signal Mask
       A  signal mask determines which signals a thread accepts and which ones
       are blocked from delivery.  If a synchronous  signal  is	 blocked  from
       delivery,  it is held pending until either the thread unblocks the sig‐
       nal or the thread terminates.  If an asynchronous signal	 delivered  to
       the  process  is	 blocked  from delivery by a thread, the signal may be
       handled by a different thread in the process that  does	not  have  the
       signal blocked.

   Signal Vector
       A signal vector is a table contained in each process that describes the
       action that should be taken when a signal  is  delivered	 to  a	thread
       within  the process.  Each signal has one of three potential behaviors:
       ignore the signal, execute a signal-handling function, or  perform  the
       default action of the signal (usually process termination).

   Single-Threaded
       means  that  there is only one flow of control (one thread) through the
       program code; only one instruction is executed at a time.

   Spinlock
       A synchronization primitive similar to a mutex.	If the lock cannot  be
       acquired,  instead  of blocking, the thread wishing to acquire the lock
       spins in a loop until the lock can be acquired.	Spinlocks can be  eas‐
       ily  used  improperly and can severely degrade performance if used on a
       single processor system.

   Spurious Wakeup
       A spurious wakeup occurs when a thread is incorrectly  unblocked,  even
       though the event it was waiting for has not occurred.  A condition wait
       that is interrupted and returns because the blocked thread  received  a
       normal signal is an example of a spurious wakeup.

   Stack
       A  stack	 is  used  by a thread to make function calls (and return from
       those calls), to pass arguments to a function call, and to  create  the
       space  for  local  variables when in that function call.	 Bound threads
       have a user stack and a kernel stack.  Unbound threads have only a user
       stack.

   Synchronous Signal
       A  synchronous  signal  is a signal that has been generated due to some
       action of a specific thread.  For example, when a thread does a	divide
       by  zero,  causes  a  floating  point exception, or executes an illegal
       instruction, a signal is generated synchronously.  Synchronous  signals
       are delivered to the thread that caused the signal to be sent.

   Traditional Process
       This  is a single-threaded entity that can be scheduled to execute on a
       processor.

   Thread
       A thread is an independent flow of control within a  process,  composed
       of  a context (which includes a register set and program counter) and a
       sequence of instructions to execute.

   Thread Local Storage (TLS)
       Thread local storage is essentially thread-specific data requiring sup‐
       port  from  the	compilers.   With TLS, an application can allocate the
       actual data as thread-specific data rather than	using  thread-specific
       data  keys.   Additionally,  TLS	 does not require the thread to make a
       function call to obtain thread-specific data.  The  thread  can	access
       the data directly.

   Thread-Safe Function
       A  thread-safe  function	 is  one that may be safely called by multiple
       threads at the same time.  If the  function  accesses  shared  data  or
       resources,  this	 access	 is regulated by a mutex or some other form of
       synchronization.

   Thread-Specific Data (TSD)
       Thread-specific data is global data that is specific to a thread.   All
       threads	access	the  same data variable.  However, each thread has its
       own thread-specific value associated with this variable.	 errno	is  an
       example of thread-specific data.

   Thread Structure
       The  operating  system  maintains a thread structure for each thread in
       the system.  This structure represents the actual thread internally  in
       the  system.   A	 sample	 of  thread structure information includes the
       thread ID, the scheduling policy and priority,  and  the	 signal	 mask.
       The thread structure and the values contained within it are part of the
       context of a thread.

   User Mode
       A mode of operation where a subset of operations are allowed.  While  a
       thread is executing an applications code, it is executing in user mode.
       When the thread makes a system call, it changes modes and  executes  in
       kernel mode until the system call completes.

   User Space
       The  user  code	exists	in  this space.	 User code is executed in this
       space at the normal privilege level.  In general, there are two	privi‐
       lege  levels:  one  for	user code (user mode) and the other for kernel
       code (kernel mode).

   User Stack
       When a thread is executing code in user space, it needs to use a	 stack
       to  make	 function  calls, pass parameters, and create local variables.
       While in user mode, a thread does not use the kernel stack.  Instead, a
       separate	 user  stack  is  allocated  for use by each user thread.  See
       Stack for a generic description of a stack.

   User Thread
       When is called, a user thread is created.  Whether  a  kernel-scheduled
       entity  (kernel	thread or lightweight process) is also created depends
       on the user thread's scheduling contention scope.  When a bound	thread
       is  created,  both a user thread and a kernel-scheduled entity are cre‐
       ated.  When an unbound thread is created, generally only a user	thread
       is created.  See Thread for a generic description of a thread.

SEE ALSO
       pthread_stubs(5), thread_safety(5).

       ThreadTime  by  Scott  J. Norton and Mark D. DiPasquale, Prentice-Hall,
       ISBN 0-13-190067-6, 1996.

				Pthread Library			   pthread(3T)
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