Question

I am creating a data-parallel program using pthreads and C++. From pthread function from a class, I found out how to supply pthread_create with a function pointer to a static C++ function(and supply it a this argument).

However, I also need to supply the thread with an index, so it knows what data it’s working on. I could malloc a struct for each thread(with both the pointer to the C++ class and an index), but this seems like it would add some bookkeeping code, and could lead to leaks if the struct isn’t freed. Is there a better way to do this?

Answer 1

You can use Boost.Thread. It provides a type-safe way for you to pass more than one argument into your callable.

Yes, it has similar kinds of bookkeeping as your question stated, but it uses C++ mechanisms to ensure that it doesn’t leak.