What are the differences between reentrant and thread-safe?

Can you explain the differences between reentrant and thread-safe functions?

Sure! Reentrant functions can be interrupted and safely called again before the previous executions complete, while thread-safe functions can be safely called by multiple threads at the same time without causing data corruption.

Can you give an example of a reentrant function?

An example of a reentrant function is one that uses local variables only, like a simple mathematical calculation that doesn't rely on shared state.

What about thread-safe functions? How are they implemented?

Thread-safe functions often use synchronization mechanisms like mutexes or locks to ensure that only one thread can access the shared resource at a time.

Are all thread-safe functions reentrant?

Not necessarily. A thread-safe function can be reentrant, but it may also use shared state, which would make it non-reentrant.

How do I decide which one to use in my code?

It depends on your use case. If you need to allow interruptions and re-executions, go for reentrant. If you need to handle multiple threads safely, use thread-safe.