Linux is a popular open-source operating system that provides various functionalities to users. One such functionality is the ability to create threads to perform multiple tasks concurrently. As a developer, understanding how to create a Linux thread in C is essential if you want to take full advantage of the benefits that Linux provides.

Before we delve further into creating a Linux thread in C, let’s define what a thread is. A thread is a small subset of a process that can run concurrently with other threads within the same process. Threads can perform multiple tasks at the same time, improving program performance and utilization of system resources.

Creating a Linux Thread in C

Here are steps to create a simple Linux thread in C:

Step 1: Include the necessary headers

The first step is to include the necessary headers that will allow us to create a thread. Here are the header files you need to include:

“`

#include

#include

“`

The pthread.h header file provides all the functions and data types required to create and manage threads. The stdio.h header file provides standard input and output functions.

Step 2: Define the thread function

Next, you need to define the thread function. This function will contain the code that the thread will execute. Here is a sample thread function:

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void *threadFunction(void *arg)

{

printf(“This is a Linux thread \n”);

return NULL;

}

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In this example, the threadFunction function prints “This is a Linux thread” and returns a null pointer.

Step 3: Create the thread

After defining the thread function, you can now create the thread using the pthread_create() function. Here is the code to create a thread:

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int main()

{

pthread_t myThread;

printf(“Creating a Linux thread \n”);

pthread_create(&myThread, NULL, threadFunction, NULL);

pthread_join(myThread, NULL);

printf(“Thread is finished\n”);

return 0;

}

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In the code above, we create a thread using the pthread_create() function, passing in the thread ID (myThread), NULL (default thread attributes), the address of the thread function (threadFunction), and NULL (no arguments for the function). We wait for the thread to complete using the pthread_join() function.

Step 4: Compile and execute the code

After writing the code, you need to compile and execute it. Here is the command to compile the code:

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gcc -o myThread myThread.c -lpthread

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The “-lpthread” flag is used to link the pthread library to the executable file.

Once you compile the code, you can execute it using the following command:

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./myThread

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The output should be something like this:

“`

Creating a Linux thread

This is a Linux thread

Thread is finished

“`