Hands-On System Programming with Linux

Reentrant functions

A reentrant function is one that can be reentered while an ongoing invocation is still running. It's simpler than it sounds; check out this pseudo-code snippet:

signal_handler(sig) {     my_foo();    < ... > }my_foo(){    char mybuf[MAX];    <...>}do_the_work_mate(){    my_foo();    <...>}

Now imagine this sequence of activity:

• The function my_foo() is invoked by the business logic function do_the_work_mate(); it operates on the local buffer mybuf

• While this is still running, a signal is dispatched to this process

• The signal handler code preempts whatever was executing at the moment it occurred and runs

  • It reinvokes the function my_foo()

So, there we see it: the function my_foo() is reentered. By itself, that's OK; the important ...