Chapter 32. Threads: Thread Cancellation

Typically, multiple threads execute in parallel, with each thread performing its task until it decides to terminate by calling pthread_exit() or returning from the thread’s start function.

Sometimes, it can be useful to cancel a thread; that is, to send it a request asking it to terminate now. This could be useful, for example, if a group of threads is performing a calculation, and one thread detects an error condition that requires the other threads to terminate. Alternatively, a GUI-driven application may provide a cancel button to allow the user to terminate a task that is being performed by a thread in the background; in this case, the main thread (controlling the GUI) needs to tell the background thread to terminate.