c threads; fast and portable?

Threads in ansi c99. I'm looking for something fast and something that is cross platform (or at least win/mac/linux). What are my options here?

• pthreads-32 doesn't look active any more (last update in 2006).

• I'm using MinGW as a compiler so normal pthreads might work?

• Boost is nice, but only C++

• protothreads look promising?? http://www.sics.se/~adam/pt/

• OpenMP needs compiler support and seems pretty big for my needs.

• I'm using OpenCL; but seems really awkward to use for "simple threads" on the CPU and doesn开发者_StackOverflow中文版't support everything (that is, it would be really difficult/impossiable to make a thread to play music).

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First off, you're using OpenCL, why would OpenMP be "big for your needs"? Compiler support isn't a problem. I'm confident there's no compiler that supports/"works with" OpenCL that doesn't have support for OpenMP.

Secondly, pthreads-win32 may seem old, but it's not superfluous or "bad" because of it. A lot of projects still use that library with success.

I'd go with this list (ordered by preference):

1. OpenMP (simplicity, portability)
2. pthreads (portability)
3. C++2011 threads aka Boost.Thread (but is in C++, not C)
4. pthreads on POSIX, Win32 threads on Windows.

And by the way, doesn't OpenCL use kernels that are completely independent little programs that have their own parallel execution depending on the hardware regardless of how you applied threading outside of that kernel?

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Here is a header that provides pthread functionality for in a cross-platform way:

// =================================================================================================================
// xs_CThread.h - copyright Sree Kotay 2006-2013
// =================================================================================================================
#ifndef _xs_CTHREAD_H_
#define _xs_CTHREAD_H_

// =================================================================================================================
// basic emuation
// =================================================================================================================
#if _MSC_VER>=1200
    #include <windows.h>
    #include <process.h>
    #define XS_THREAD_CALL          __stdcall
    typedef HANDLE                  pthread_mutex_t;
    typedef HANDLE                  xs_threadhandle;
    typedef unsigned int            (XS_THREAD_CALL *xs_ThreadProc)(void *);
    #define XS_THREAD_RETURN        unsigned int

    #define XS_TLS                  _declspec( thread )
    #define XS_runthread(th, p, d)  th=(HANDLE)_beginthread(p, 0, d)
    #define XS_endthread(th)        TerminateThread((HANDLE)th, 0)
#elif __GNUC__>3 || (__GNUC__==3 && __GNUC_MINOR__>3)
    #include <pthread.h>
    #define XS_THREAD_CALL          
    typedef pthread_t               xs_threadhandle;
    typedef void                    *(*xs_ThreadProc)(void *);
    #define XS_THREAD_RETURN        void*

    #define XS_TLS                  __thread
    #define XS_runthread(th,p,d)    pthread_create(&th, NULL, p, d)
    #define XS_endthread(th)        pthread_cancel(th)
#else 
    ////uh..... out'o'luck you are....
#endif

// =================================================================================================================
// Windows emuation of pthread library
// from mongoose webserver -- http://code.google.com/p/mongoose/
//
//   Copyright (c) 2004-2013 Sergey Lyubka
//   
//   Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
//   of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
//   in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
//   to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
//   copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
//   furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
//   
//   The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
//   all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
//   
//   THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
//   IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
//   FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
//   AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
//   LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
//   OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
//   THE SOFTWARE.
//   =================================================================================================================
#if defined(_WIN32) && !defined(__SYMBIAN32__) && !defined(_MONGOOSE_WEBSERVER_)
typedef struct {HANDLE signal, broadcast;} pthread_cond_t;

static int pthread_mutex_init(pthread_mutex_t *mutex, void *unused) {
  unused = NULL;
  *mutex = CreateMutex(NULL, FALSE, NULL);
  return *mutex == NULL ? -1 : 0;
}

static int pthread_mutex_destroy(pthread_mutex_t *mutex) {
  return CloseHandle(*mutex) == 0 ? -1 : 0;
}

static int pthread_mutex_lock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex) {
  return WaitForSingleObject(*mutex, INFINITE) == WAIT_OBJECT_0? 0 : -1;
}

static int pthread_mutex_unlock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex) {
  return ReleaseMutex(*mutex) == 0 ? -1 : 0;
}

static int pthread_cond_init(pthread_cond_t *cv, const void *unused) {
  unused = NULL;
  cv->signal = CreateEvent(NULL, FALSE, FALSE, NULL);
  cv->broadcast = CreateEvent(NULL, TRUE, FALSE, NULL);
  return cv->signal != NULL && cv->broadcast != NULL ? 0 : -1;
}

static int pthread_cond_wait(pthread_cond_t *cv, pthread_mutex_t *mutex) {
  HANDLE handles[] = {cv->signal, cv->broadcast};
  ReleaseMutex(*mutex);
  WaitForMultipleObjects(2, handles, FALSE, INFINITE);
  return WaitForSingleObject(*mutex, INFINITE) == WAIT_OBJECT_0? 0 : -1;
}

static int pthread_cond_signal(pthread_cond_t *cv) {
  return SetEvent(cv->signal) == 0 ? -1 : 0;
}

static int pthread_cond_broadcast(pthread_cond_t *cv) {
  return PulseEvent(cv->broadcast) == 0 ? -1 : 0;
}
#else
static int pthread_mutex_init(pthread_mutex_t *mutex, void *unused);
static int pthread_mutex_destroy(pthread_mutex_t *mutex);
static int pthread_mutex_lock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex);
static int pthread_mutex_unlock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex);
static int pthread_cond_init(pthread_cond_t *cv, const void *unused);
static int pthread_cond_wait(pthread_cond_t *cv, pthread_mutex_t *mutex);
static int pthread_cond_signal(pthread_cond_t *cv);
static int pthread_cond_broadcast(pthread_cond_t *cv);
#endif //pthread emulation




#endif // for entire file