POSIX threads and the pthreads library

In order to take full advantage of the capabilities provided by threads, a standardized programming interface was required.

For UNIX-based systems, this interface has been specified by the IEEE POSIX 1003.1c standard (1995). Implementations conforming to this standard are referred to as POSIX threads, or pthreads. Most operating system vendors now offer pthreads in addition to their proprietary APIs.

pthreads are defined as a set of C language datatypes and function calls, declared with a <pthread.h> header file and defined in a thread library
(requested with -lpthread) -
although this library may be embedded in another library, such as libc, on some platforms (in the same way that Apple includes the maths library in its libc).

Some useful references:

• standards.ieee.org/findstds/standard/1003.1-2008.html
• www.opengroup.org/austin/papers/posix_faq.html