global variable at dynamic library

Hello! I have a couple of functions that MUST share a single variable. These functions will be compiled into a dynamic library (.so) and this library will be accessed by multiple threads. Is this method thread-safe, or I must use mutexes to prevent corruption of the global variable?

Code:

---

// foo.h
void foo1();
void foo2();

---

Code:

---

// foo.cpp
static int foo_flag = 0;
void foo1() {
    // uses foo_flag
}

void foo2() {
    // uses foo_flag
}

---

Thanks any help!

Hi, I have made a test myself and would like to share the results:

Code:

---

// test.cpp
#include <pthread.h>
#include <stdio.h>

#include "my_lib.h"

int main()
{
                pthread_t thread1, thread2;

                printf("Creating thread 1\n");
                pthread_create(&thread1, NULL, foo1, NULL);

                printf("Creating thread 2\n");
                pthread_create(&thread1, NULL, foo2, NULL);

                printf("Waiting for key press\n");
                getchar();
}

---

Code:

---

// my_lib.h
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>

void* foo1(void*);
void* foo2(void*);

---

Code:

---

// my_lib.cpp
#include "my_lib.h"

static int flag = 0;

void* foo1(void*)
{
                while (true) {
                                printf("foo1: Flag is %d\n", flag);
                                sleep(1);
                }
                return NULL;
}

void* foo2(void*)
{
                while (true) {
                                printf("foo2: Flag is %d\n", flag);
                                sleep(1);
                                flag++;
                }
                return NULL;               
}

---

Both threads printed the incremented flag, i.e., the statement flag++ of foo2 of the second thread affected foo1 of the first thread.
I will try to solve this problem, thanks.

Be aware that any global variable accessed by multiple threads WILL need some mechanism to ensure that it's consistently used.

If you read flag in one place, and update it in another, you will have a race-condition between the two points as to the value being read.

It is PROBABLY ok to set the flag to zero and one, but incrementing it in one place and decrementing in another is quite possibly a failure scenario, as you may find that the decremented value written back is the one before the increment or after the increment, no way to know for sure.

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Mats