C++ 11 Thread vs Boost Thread is there any difference? [duplicate]

Question

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the C++11 multithreading classes versus the ones found in Boost? I will only be using Linux so I do not require portability. Is there a lack of features in one of the libraries? Any known limitations? Better syntax?

Answer 1

Standard threads have the advantage of being standardised, therefore portable to any compliant implementation.

The Boost thread library is more or less identical; the standard library was based on that library, and there has been an effort to make Boost a conformant implementation of the standard. It has a few extensions which might be useful, including:

• join with timeout
• thread interruption
• thread groups
• extra lock types

Answer 2

In general, boost classes are only wrappers around functions/objects that exist in given OS. Their main advantage is that boost contains versions written for most operating systems, hence the wrapper provides portability the original functions/objects sometimes do not.

If there is nothing else your need from boost I would strongly suggest using standard C++11 threads.

Reasons:

• boost will not provide more than the system allows for

• your code will not have any wrapper overhead (however small it may be)

• boost support for c++11 threads is a new feature and I would fear that it could introduce some errors in the boosts' implementation

• you will not have to rely on boost libraries and will save yourself time compiling and linking them, etc.

• you will not have to update boost, because you will not be using it

Of course, boost has some pros also:

• many people know boost and the code will (possibly) be easier to read

• if you decide you need to port the code you may have an easier time (though C++11 is standard, so somewhere down the line all compilers will implement it)