Why do functions using std::mutex make a null check of the address of pthread_key_create?

Question

Take this simple function that increments an integer under a lock implemented by std::mutex:

#include 

std::mutex m;

void inc(int         


        

Answer 1

Your guess looks to be correct. From the libgcc/gthr-posix.h file in gcc's source repository (https://github.com/gcc-mirror/gcc.git):

/* For a program to be multi-threaded the only thing that it certainly must
   be using is pthread_create.  However, there may be other libraries that
   intercept pthread_create with their own definitions to wrap pthreads
   functionality for some purpose.  In those cases, pthread_create being
   defined might not necessarily mean that libpthread is actually linked
   in.

   For the GNU C library, we can use a known internal name.  This is always
   available in the ABI, but no other library would define it.  That is
   ideal, since any public pthread function might be intercepted just as
   pthread_create might be.  __pthread_key_create is an "internal"
   implementation symbol, but it is part of the public exported ABI.  Also,
   it's among the symbols that the static libpthread.a always links in
   whenever pthread_create is used, so there is no danger of a false
   negative result in any statically-linked, multi-threaded program.

   For others, we choose pthread_cancel as a function that seems unlikely
   to be redefined by an interceptor library.  The bionic (Android) C
   library does not provide pthread_cancel, so we do use pthread_create
   there (and interceptor libraries lose).  */

#ifdef __GLIBC__
__gthrw2(__gthrw_(__pthread_key_create),
     __pthread_key_create,
     pthread_key_create)
# define GTHR_ACTIVE_PROXY  __gthrw_(__pthread_key_create)
#elif defined (__BIONIC__)
# define GTHR_ACTIVE_PROXY  __gthrw_(pthread_create)
#else
# define GTHR_ACTIVE_PROXY  __gthrw_(pthread_cancel)
#endif

static inline int
__gthread_active_p (void)
{
  static void *const __gthread_active_ptr
    = __extension__ (void *) >HR_ACTIVE_PROXY;
  return __gthread_active_ptr != 0;
}

Then throughout the remainder of the file many of the pthread APIs are wrapped inside checks to the __gthread_active_p() function. If __gthread_active_p() returns 0 nothing is done and success is returned.