A launched thread can be passed an argument, similar to any function. And the thread can return a value, just like any function. But while the thread runs, options for communications are rather limited.
Continue reading
Padding a string on its left side isn’t that difficult, yet it’s a vital piece of code. To understand why, you need to know that the initialism NPM stands for Node Package Manager. It’s a critical part of the Internet.
Continue reading
If you’re like me, you’re probably more familiar with the concept of pipes at the command prompt than in a programming environment. Or maybe you don’t care either way. Regardless, both types of pipe are similar forms of communications, but programming pipes seem specifically weird to me.
Continue reading
A thread ends in one of three ways: natural causes, an early exit, or sudden death. Yes, it’s exciting, but no more than any aspect of programming.
Continue reading
Threads in your code go off and do their own thing, running independently from other parts of the code. Still, the thread is established as a function in your source code file. Like any function, it can leave early.
Continue reading
To code a simulated elevator ride you must know the floor requests, up and down. This is the challenge given for this month’s Exercise, which can either drive you nuts or delight you depending on how you craft your solution.
Continue reading
In last week’s Lesson, a program spawned a single thread. This thread runs at the same time as the main program, interrupting text input (if you let it). Such fun! But a multithreaded program isn’t limited to running just two threads. Your code can spawn multiple threads, each running simultaneously.
Continue reading
I recently stayed at a resort with a tall hotel tower, over 30 stories. As I rode the elevator up to my floor, I thought about how the lift worked like a pointer traversing an array: The floors are elements. Each stop going up represents a passenger’s desired destination, as do stops on the return trip. My programmer brain was on fire!
Continue reading
Better than forking — especially grandchild forking — is to use threads. These program chunks are more manageable than forking and they don’t recreate the entire program (process). Still, threads aren’t without their quirks. Further, they’re available only to the POSIX standard. Sorry, Windows.
Continue reading
I wrote about forking a while back, in June 2015. The fork splits a program into two processes, each capable of handling different tasks simultaneously. The power behind this trick is the fork() function.
Continue reading
Copyright © 1997-2022 by QPBC.
All rights reserved
