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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-23T00:36:07+00:00

I would like to call pthread_join for a given thread id, but only if

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I would like to call pthread_join for a given thread id, but only if that thread has been started. The safe solution might be to add a variable to track which thread where started or not. However, I wonder if checking pthread_t variables is possible, something like the following code.

pthread_t thr1 = some_invalid_value; //0 ?
pthread_t thr2 = some_invalid_value;

/* thread 1 and 2 are strated or not depending on various condition */
....

/* cleanup */
if(thr1 != some_invalid_value)
    pthread_join(&thr1);

if(thr2 != some_invalid_value)
    pthread_join(&thr2);

Where some_invalid_value could be 0, or an implementation dependant ‘PTHREAD_INVALID_ID’ macro

PS :
My assumption is that pthread_t types are comparable and assignable, assumption based on

PPS :
I wanted to do this, because I thought calling pthread_join on invalid thread id was undefinde behaviour. It is not. However, joining a previously joined thread IS undefined behaviour. Now let’s assume the above “function” is called repeatedly.
Unconditionnally calling pthread_join and checking the result might result in calling pthread_join on a previously joined thread.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Your assumption is incorrect to start with. pthread_t objects are opaque. You cannot compare pthread_t types directly in C. You should use pthread_equal instead.

    Another consideration is that if pthread_create fails, the contents of your pthread_t will be undefined. It may not be set to your invalid value any more.

    My preference is to keep the return values of the pthread_create calls (along with the thread IDs) and use that to determine whether each thread was started correctly.

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