Multithreaded Programming with Win32 (Paperback)

by Thuan Q. Pham (Author), Pankaj K. Garg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Adding multithreaded processing to your applications can make them faster and more responsive. The authors of Multithreaded Programming with Win32 show you how to take advantage of threads through practical, easy-to-understand examples.

The book begins with a history of threads, which were implemented rather recently (in 1979). They look at Win32 threads in particular, including all the APIs used to create and control threads. (Several of the sample programs here use graphics and even rudimentary games--such as a simple version of Pong.)

After you create threads, the authors teach you how to get them to work together. They do a fine job of explaining all the Win32 synchronization objects, such as mutexes, critical sections, and event objects, in a clear and concise style.

The strategies for coordinating threads have been well known in computer science for some time. The authors present common thread scenarios using the producer-consumer, bounded buffers, and readers-writers solutions. They explore the concept of thread monitors, for greater abstraction when controlling resources, and discuss deadlock analysis, with strategies to prevent threads from freezing.

Later, the book moves on to some programming strategies for allocating work between threads, using models like the workgroup, manager-worker, and pipeline to solve problems. The book closes with a few examples of threads used across the enterprise, including Microsoft's DCOM.

In all, this guide proves remarkably engaging and effective. The authors present many useful code examples of multithreading in action, which will get you started using threads in your own programs. --Richard Dragan

Product Description
Learn practical Win32 multithreading techniques that can make all your Windows NT software faster and more responsive. Start by understanding how multithreading works, and the fundamentals of the Windows NT Thread Interface, including processes, thread management, creation, termination, and prioritization. Review the key techniques Win32 provides for thread synchronization, with practical examples of how to use them most effectively. Understand the role of monitors and data encapsulation. Next, use Microsoft's deadlock detection, prevention and recovery techniques to avoid the classic conditions known to crash multithreaded systems. Learn about the thread-package architecture and implementations, including user-level, kernel-level and multiplexed threads, and the scheduler. You'll also find great coverage of Java threads -- and an exceptionally useful chapter on multithreading in distributed applications, using Microsoft's DCOM technology.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (November 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130109126
• ISBN-13: 978-0130109125
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,684,172 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Quick Look Encounters Errors and Typos, November 6, 1999

By	grandpiano_57 "James" (Burlington, CT USA) - See all my reviews

In the sections I have had to study, the book is obviously filled with typos. Sadly, it is another example of a poorly edited computer book. P.118 talks of a GetBothForks function. In the example, that function does not exist. There is a function called GetForks. That may be what they are referring to(?) On the next page the book discusses Preemption. The lines referenced in the example are obviously not the lines intended. In other words, references to lines 9-13 are probably really referencing lines 15 - 20(?) Finally, that solution is essentially the same as the previous. The first question a good student would ask is what is the difference? Of course, I guess the book does not pre-suppose a good student is reading. In summary, not edited well and therefore not trustworthy.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, concise natural progression with good examples, April 20, 1999

By A Customer

This book is very easy to read and follows a natural progression from the problem of why multithreads are needed and how to go about solving the problem. Simple examples of a single reader and single writer thread are presented first followed by increasingly more complex examples of multiple readers and multiple writers with the changes clearly pointed out. I was able to skip around with ease and applied the concepts to my own application within hours. The chapters on monitors were well written - the first chapter in an abstract manner to illustrate the point followed by another chapter that had the actual guts of the code. The chapter on deadlock analysis was very useful in pointing out the issue of deadlock avoidance through the use of preemptive threads. This was important in my application where threads have to yield resources when their allotted cpu time was up.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay treatment, March 8, 2001

By	Tam "tawfek" (Roseville, Ca) - See all my reviews

If you want a book that provide a survey on the topic, this book will serve the purpose as an intro. But the codes are not that reliable. While the authors do provide codes to implement concepts discussed, some of the codes does not even compiled. For those that compiled some of it does not tackle the problem that it should tackle. Further editing and rewriting required.