Thread Libraries

• A thread library provides the programmer an API for creating and managing threads. There are two primary ways of implementing a thread library.
  1. The first approach is to provide a library entirely in user space with no kernel support. All code and data structures for the library exist in user space. This means that invoking a function in the library results in a local function call in user space and not a system call.
  2. The second approach is to implement a kernel-level library supported directly by the OS. In this case, code and data structures for the library exist in kernel space. Invoking a function in the API for the library typically results in a system call to the kernel.
• Three main thread libraries are in use today:
  1. POSIX Pthreads. Pthreads, the threads extension of the POSIX standard, may be provided as either a user- or kernel-level library.
  2. Win32. The Win32 thread library is a kernel-level library available on Windows systems.
  3. Java. The Java thread API allows thread creation and management directly in Java programs. However, because in most instances the JVM is running on top of a host OS, the Java thread API is typically implemented using a thread library available on the host system.