threads for C/C++ under Unix?

[Peter da Silva]

In article <12298 at polya.Stanford.EDU> hall at eclipse.stanford.edu (Keith Hall) writes:
>   1.  Does a portable preemptive thread package for Unix, such as
>       described above, exist?

There isn't even a portable non-preemptive threads package. There isn't
even a co-routine package.

>   2.  Is there a reason such a package cannot be written without
>       kernel modifications?

Your quantum would be rather large in most implementations (1 second
for alarm()). Non-preemptive threads could be implemented without any
changes even for systems less powerful than UNIX.

>   3.  If kernel mods are required, why haven't we programmer's
>       demanded that they be done?  Put another way, is the utility
>       of threads not generally recognized?

(a) I don't know. (b) The utility of threads is unrecognised.

I have occasionally tried to drum up some interest in non-preemptive
threads (a whole lot easier to implement -- and safer), with little
success. I wish you luck.
-- 
Peter da Silva, *NIX support guy @ Ferranti International Controls Corporation.
Biz: peter at ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. Fun: peter at sugar.hackercorp.com. `-_-'
                                                                           'U`
Quote: Structured Programming is a discipline -- not a straitjacket.