An Introduction to Programming with Threads

This paper provides an introduction to writing concurrent programs with " threads ". A threads facility allows you to write programs with multiple simultaneous points of execution, synchronizing through shared memory. The paper describes the basic thread and synchronization primitives, then for each primitive provides a tutorial on how to use it. The tutorial sections provide advice on the best ways to use the primitives, give warnings about what can go wrong and offer hints about how to avoid these pitfalls. The paper is aimed at experienced programmers who want to acquire practical expertise in writing concurrent programs. This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for non-profit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of acknowledgement of the authors and individual contributors to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproducing, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to the Systems Research Center. All rights reserved.