Is this code 'thread safe'? I.e., can it be accessed by more than one thread at the same time? Short answer: No. As noted above, the code assumes a single thread of execution, using an event loop - rather than multiple threads - for concurrency. This generally makes the code much easier to debug, and much easier to port across multiple operating systems, which may have different thread APIs, or no thread support at all. (For even stronger arguments along these same lines, see John Ousterhout's presentation.) Therefore, although it's true to say that the code is not 'thread safe', it's also somewhat misleading. It's like saying that a high-speed rail carriage is not 'airworthy'. Longer answer: More than one thread can still use this code, if only one thread runs the library code proper, and the other thread(s) communicate with the library only by setting global 'flag' variables (such as event loop 'watch variables'), or by calling 'event triggers'. (Note that "triggerEvent()" is the only LIVE555 function that may be called from an external (i.e., non-LIVE555) thread.) Another possible way to access the code from multiple threads is to have each thread use its own "UsageEnvironment" and "TaskScheduler" objects, and thus its own event loop. The objects created by each thread (i.e., using its own "UsageEnvironment") must not interact (except via global variables). Such a configuration is not recommended, however; instead, it is safer to structure such an application as multiple processes, not multiple threads. In any case, when using the "LIVE555 Streaming Media" code, you should be familiar with event-driven programming, and understand that an event-driven application can perform at least as well as one that uses threads (unless you're actually running on a multiprocessor, in which case it's usually simpler to have your application consist of multiple processes (not just threads) - one running on each processor). Note, in particular, that you do not need multiple threads in order to transmit (or receive) multiple streams concurrently.
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