Question

I have a server in C++ using UNIX sockets that currently blocks on read() calls from a single client. I’d like to be able to extend the server so that I could write some data to the socket while still being able to read from the socket? Is a thread library like Boost.Thread the best way to accomplish this, or is there some other way that would be easier/more efficient?

Answer 1

You have lots of options. At least four:

• Use select (/poll/epoll/kqueue)
• Use separate threads for reading / writing (pthreads / Boost.Thread)
• Use asio
• Use asynchronous IO (for example libaio)

The easiest is the one you know :). So for me asio would be nightmarish and epoll would be piece of cake. Your mileage may vary.

As for efficiency, it’s hard to beat the implementation-specific replacements for select.