Windows® via C/C++, Fifth Edition

Chapter 11. The Windows Thread Pool

In this chapter:

Scenario 1: Call a Function Asynchronously

Scenario 2: Call a Function at a Timed Interval

Scenario 3: Call a Function When a Single Kernel Object Becomes Signaled

Scenario 4: Call a Function When Asynchronous I/O Requests Complete

Callback Termination Actions

In Chapter 10, we discussed how the Microsoft Windows I/O completion port kernel object provides a queue of I/O requests and how it dispatches threads to process these queued items in an intelligent way. However, the I/O completion port dispatches threads that are waiting on it; you still have to manage the creation and destruction of these threads yourself.

Everybody has opinions on how to manage the creation and destruction of threads. I’ve ...