An Introduction to Programming with Threads by Andrew D. Birrell

Question 1

A “thread” is a straightforward concept:
a _____ _________ ____ __ ______

Answer 1

a single sequential flow of control

Question 2

“Having “multiple threads” in a program means that at any instant the program has…

Answer 2

… multiple points of execution, one in each of its threads.” - Andrew D. Birrell

Question 3

“Having the threads execute within a “single address space” means that the computer’s addressing hardware is configured so as to permit the threads to read and write the same ______ _________. In a high-level language, this usually corresponds to the fact that the off-stack (_____) variables are _____among all the threads of the program. Each thread executes on a separate call stack with its own separate ____ _______. The programmer is responsible for using the _________mechanisms of the thread facility to ensure that the ______ _______ is accessed in a manner that will give the correct answer.” - Andrew D. Birrel​

Answer 3

memory locations

global

shared

local variables

synchronization

shared memory

Question 4

Thread facilities are always advertised as being “lightweight”. This means that thread _______, ________, _________and ___________primitives are _____ enough that the programmer will use them for all his ________ needs.- Andrew D. Birrel​

Answer 4

creation

existence

destruction

synchronization

cheap

concurrency

Question 5

Give 4 reasons to use concurrency:

1. Utilize ____
2. Drive ____ (for example ____, ____, _______, ______, ______)
3. If the ____ invokes multiple actions, multiple _____ will perform them in ______.
4. Use of multiple threads allows the server to handle _______ _______ __ _______ , instead of artificially ________ them.

- Andrew D. Birrell

Answer 5

Utilize multi-processors

drive slow devices, (disks, networks, terminal, mouse)

user, threads, parallel

clients’ requests in parallel, serializing

Question 6

List the 4 major mechanisms in the design of a thread facility:

Answer 6

thread creation

mutual exclusion

waiting for events

getting out of a wait