Question

I have seen code for summation of an array using threads. In this code a thread is created and an int data type is returned:

int iret1, iret2;   
iret1 = pthread_create( &thread1, NULL, print_message_function, (void*) message1); 
iret2 = pthread_create( &thread2, NULL, print_message_function, (void*) message2);

I knew that a thread is a child of a process and it uses for executing program. For the executing program memory is needed, and memory is returned by a void* data type.

What is the logical reason for returning an int? Can any one explain the actual reason?

Answer 1

According to man pthread_create:

Return Value

On success, pthread_create() returns 0; on error, it returns an error
number, and the contents of *thread are undefined.

That value simply indicates whether the thread creation was successful or not.

It is not a memory allocation call like malloc, therefore I don’t see why you think it should return a pointer.