Programming with POSIX® Threads

The algorithm (and most of the code) for susp.c was developed by a coworker of mine, Brian Silver. The code shown here is a simplified version for demonstration purposes.

7

I always like to define magic numbers using hexadecimal constants that can be pronounced as English words. For barriers, I invented my own restaurant called the 'DB cafe,' or, in C syntax, Oxdbcafe. Many interesting (or at least mildly amusing) English words can be spelled using only the letters a through f. There are even more possibilities if you allow the digit 1 to stand in for the letter 1. and the digit 0 to stand in for the letter o. (Whether you like the results will depend a lot on the typeface in which you commonly read your code.)

8

For historical reasons, the function is called cma_debug. Should you find yourself stuck with DCE threads code, try calling it, and enter the help command for a list of additional commands.

9

My daughter had this figured out by the time she was three — when she wanted to race, she told me ahead of time whether my job was to win or lose. There's really no point to leaving these important things to chance!

10

Digital UNIX and Solaris both (incorrectly) place the definition in <pthread.h>. The UNIX 98 brand will require that they be fixed.

11

DCE threads implemented fast mutexes much like the definition of XSH5 normal mutexes, with no error checking. This was not, however, specification of intent.