Skip to main content

Programming: Windows Threading Vs Linux Threading

In this article, I'm trying to show some differences between Windows and Linux thread creation and their respective usage.

Creating Threads:

1.
    a. In Windows: CreateThread() API is used to create a thread to execute within the virtual address space of the calling process.
    b. In Linux: pthread_create() function creates a thread.

    Function Signature:
    // Windows
    HANDLE WINAPI CreateThread(
          _In_opt_   LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes,
          _In_       SIZE_T dwStackSize,
          _In_       LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE lpStartAddress,
          _In_opt_   LPVOID lpParameter,
          _In_       DWORD dwCreationFlags,
          _Out_opt_  LPDWORD lpThreadId
    );

    Function Signature:
    // Linux
    int pthread_create(pthread_t *thread, const pthread_attr_t *attr,
         void *(*start_routine)(void *), void *arg);

    In Windows: We can pass stack size in bytes if required to the same CreateThread() API.
    In Linux:  The stack size is set in the pthread attributes object; that is, the parameter attr of type pthread_attr_t is passed to the library call pthread_create().
        This object needs to be initialized by the call pthread_attr_init() before any attributes are set.
        The attribute object is destroyed using the call pthread_attr_destroy().
        The stack size is set using the call pthread_attr_setstacksize(): int pthread_attr_setstacksize(pthread_attr_t *threadAttr, int stack_size);

    This article uses default thread attributes to create threads on Windows and Linux.
    In Windows: Used WaitForMultipleObjects() API to force main() to wait until all threads execution are done.
    In Linux: Used pthread_join() to achieve the same.

    The following code snippets do the same stuff on Windows and Linux but there are some differences from a programming point of view.
    Code Windows:
    =============
    #include < windows.h >
    #include < stdio.h >
    #define MAX_THREADS 2

    struct MyData
    {
        char name[20];
        char thread[20];
    };

    DWORD WINAPI MyThreadFunction( LPVOID lpParam );

    int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
    {
        HANDLE hThread[2] = {NULL};
   
        DWORD   dwThreadId;
        struct MyData mData1;
        struct MyData mData2;

        strcpy(mData1.name, "Testing - 1");
        strcpy(mData1.thread, "Thread - 1");

        strcpy(mData2.name, "Testing - 2");
        strcpy(mData2.thread, "Thread - 2");

        hThread[0] = CreateThread(
            NULL,                // Default Security Attributes
            0,                    // Use Default Stack size
            MyThreadFunction,    // Thread function name
            &mData1,            // Argument to thread function
            0,                    // Use default creation flags
            &dwThreadId
            );

        if(NULL == hThread[0])
        {
            printf("CreateThread failed for Thread 1\n");
        }
   
        hThread[1] = CreateThread(
            NULL,                // Default Security Attributes
            0,                // Use Default Stack size
            MyThreadFunction,        // Thread function name
            &mData2,            // Argument to thread function
            0,                    // Use default creation flags
            &dwThreadId
        );

        if(NULL == hThread[1])
        {
            printf("CreateThread failed for Thread 2\n");
        }

        // Wait until all threads have terminated.
        WaitForMultipleObjects(MAX_THREADS, hThread, TRUE, INFINITE);

        CloseHandle(hThread[0]);
        CloseHandle(hThread[1]);
   
        return 0;
    }

    DWORD WINAPI MyThreadFunction( LPVOID lpParam )
    {
        struct MyData *p = (struct MyData *)lpParam;
        printf("Name: %s\n", p->name);
        printf("Thread: %s\n", p->thread);
        printf("+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++\n");

        return 0;
    }   

    Code Linux:
    =============
    #include < pthread.h >
    #include < stdio.h >
    #include < string.h >

    struct mystruct
    {
        char name[20];
        char thread[20];
    };

    void *Print_Details(void *param)
    {
        /*Cast the pointer to right type */
        struct mystruct* p = (struct mystruct*) param;

        printf("Name: %s\n", p->name);
        printf("Thread: %s\n", p->thread);
        printf("+++++++++++++++++++\n");   

        return NULL;
    }

    /* Main program */

    int main()
    {
        pthread_t thread1;
        pthread_t thread2;

        struct mystruct args1;
        struct mystruct args2;

        /* Create new thread */
        strcpy(args1.name, "Testing - 1");
        strcpy(args1.thread, "Thread - 1");
        pthread_create(&thread1, NULL, &Print_Details, &args1);

        /* Create another new thread */
        strcpy(args2.name, "Testing - 2");
        strcpy(args2.thread, "Thread - 2");
        pthread_create(&thread2, NULL, &Print_Details, &args2);

        /* Ensure the First thread has finished */
        pthread_join(thread1, NULL);
   
        /* Ensure the second thread has finished */
        pthread_join(thread2, NULL);

        /* Now safe to return main */
        return 0;
    }

Reference Windows: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682453%28VS.85%29.aspx
Reference Linux: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/index.jsp?topic=%2Fapis%2Fusers_14.htm

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Variadic template class to add numbers recursively during compilation

 The idea of having a class to add numbers (variable parameters) during compilation time recursively. Also wanted to restrict types to a single type while sending parameters to class member function. That said, if we mix int, float and double types to add function shall result in compilation error. How do we achieve this. The below is the code which actually helps to achieve this: <code> #include < fmt/format.h > template < typename T> class MyVarSumClass{     private :         T _sum = 0 ;     public :         template < typename ... TRest>         T add(T num, TRest... nums){             static_assert (std::conjunction<std::is_same<TRest, T>...>{}); /* Assert fails                if types are different */             _sum += num;             return add(nums...); // Next parameter packs gets picked recursively         }         // Base case         T add(T num){             _sum += num;             return _sum;         } }; int main() {     My

A simple approach to generate Fibonacci series via multi-threading

T his is a very simple approach taken to generate the Fibonacci series through multithreading. Here instead of a function, used a function object. The code is very simple and self-explanatory.  #include <iostream> #include <mutex> #include <thread> class Fib { public:     Fib() : _num0(1), _num1(1) {}     unsigned long operator()(); private:     unsigned long _num0, _num1;     std::mutex mu; }; unsigned long Fib::operator()() {     mu.lock(); // critical section, exclusive access to the below code by locking the mutex     unsigned long  temp = _num0;     _num0 = _num1;     _num1 = temp + _num0;     mu.unlock();     return temp; } int main() {     Fib f;          int i = 0;     unsigned long res = 0, res2= 0, res3 = 0;     std::cout << "Fibonacci series: ";     while (i <= 15) {         std::thread t1([&] { res = f(); }); // Capturing result to respective variable via lambda         std::thread t2([&] { res2 = f(); });         std::thread t3(

A concept to a product (Kimidori [ 黄緑]) - Part 2

In the previous part , we have seen KIMIDORI [ 黄緑] detect if a URL is malicious. In this part, we will see the details that KIMIDORI [ 黄緑] fetches out of the URL provided. As an example, provided a safe URL, https://www.azuresys.com/, and let's see what it brings out: As we can see, the link is safe and the link is active, which means we can just click on the link to open it on IE.  Now it's time to look into the URL report (still under development):  We have URLs IP, Location, and HTTP Status code. The Report part is a sliding window, the Show Report button shows as well as hides the report. Show / Hide Report is a toggle button. Let's see if we get the same details for any bad (phishing / malicious) URL: Took an URL example from a phishing link and tested it. The tool detected it as not a good link (Screen Shot Below) & link does not activate unlike a safe URL: Now let's see the report part for more details including domain registration details: It looks like it&