Threads in C++

It is fairly simple to create, but difficult to debug due the complexity in multiple-threaded environments.

Threads in C++ can be done by a simple and workable 3-step approach. Doing it in the "right" way will make it equivalent to i.e. the Java-approach, where you have to either inherit from a class (java.lang.Thread) or implement an interface (java.lang.Runnable).

1. Create a base class (class Thread).
2. Create the worker class (class A) and make it a subclass of
   the base class (cf. step 1).
3. Create an instance of your worker class (cf. step 2) and
   call its start() method.

-- snip --
class Thread {static DWORD WINAPI ThreadFunc(LPVOID pv) {
try { (reinterpret_cast<Thread*>(pv))->run(); }
catch(...) { }
return 0;
} 
public:
typedef DWORD threadid;
virtual void run() = 0;
void start() { threadid id;
::CreateThread(NULL, 0, ThreadFunc, this, 0, &id);
}
//...
}
};
 
class A : public Thread {
virtual void run() { /* Do some work! */ }
// ...
}

Thread * p = new A();
if (p) p->start(); // Spawns it in a new thread
-- snip --