Integrating pthread_create() and pthread_join() in the same loop

Question

I am new to multi-threaded programming and I am following this tutorial. In the tutorial, there is a simple example showing how to use pthread_create() and pthread_join(). My question: why can we not put pthread_join() in the same loop as pthread_create()?

Code for reference:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <pthread.h>

#define NUM_THREADS 2

/* create thread argument struct for thr_func() */
typedef struct _thread_data_t {
   int tid;
   double stuff;
} thread_data_t;

/* thread function */
void *thr_func(void *arg) {
    thread_data_t *data = (thread_data_t *)arg;

    printf("hello from thr_func, thread id: %d\n", data->tid);

    pthread_exit(NULL);
}

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    pthread_t thr[NUM_THREADS];
    int i, rc;
    /* create a thread_data_t argument array */
    thread_data_t thr_data[NUM_THREADS];

    /* create threads */
    for (i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; ++i) {
        thr_data[i].tid = i;
        if ((rc = pthread_create(&thr[i], NULL, thr_func, &thr_data[i]))) {
            fprintf(stderr, "error: pthread_create, rc: %d\n", rc);
            return EXIT_FAILURE;
        }
    }
    /* block until all threads complete */
    for (i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; ++i) {
        pthread_join(thr[i], NULL);
    }

    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Sonu Mishra · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-01 22:14:22Z

9

I figured it out. For other users with same question, I am writing below the answer.

If we put the pthread_join() in the same loop with pthread_create(), the calling thread i.e. main() will wait for the thread 0 to finish its work before creating the thread 1. This would force the threads to execute sequentially, not in parallel. Thus it would kill the purpose of multi-threading.

answered Jul 1, 2016 at 22:14

Sonu Mishra

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