# Re: fork or pthread for async I/O?

From: msitkows@au1.ibm.com
Date: Wed Feb 02 2000 - 14:08:21 PST

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  Hi,

  To begin with, fork() and pipe() have nothing to do with Posix, but have
  been Unix system calls since the dawn of time, and are executed inside the
  kernel.
  In theory, pthreads are also executed in kernel space, within the same
  process context but, if your kernel has not been compiled to be
  multi-threaded, the threads execute in user space, and just look like
  lightweight processes. Any advantage is overcome by the huge software
  overhead, (like maintaining mutexes, etc) necessary to house-keep the
  threads.
  Add to that, the fact that different versions of Unix (like AIX or Solaris)
  use slightly different implementations of pthreads with each release, and
  my advice would be, forget it. I think portability is more important, for a
  public software package.

  Best regards,
  Mark

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  Mark Sitkowski
  Design Simulation Systems Ltd
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