What are threads in Ruby and how do they work?

What are threads in Ruby and how do they work?

Threads in Ruby allow you to run multiple operations concurrently within a single program. They enable multitasking by executing different parts of your code simultaneously.

Can you give me an example of using threads in Ruby?

Sure! Here's a simple example:

thread1 = Thread.new { puts 'Thread 1 is running' }
thread2 = Thread.new { puts 'Thread 2 is running' }

thread1.join
thread2.join

This code creates two threads that run concurrently.

What are some common issues when using threads?

Common issues include race conditions, deadlocks, and thread safety. It's important to manage shared resources carefully to avoid these problems.

How does Ruby handle thread scheduling?

Ruby uses a Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) which allows only one thread to execute at a time in MRI Ruby. This can limit true parallelism but simplifies thread management.