Hi all,
Can shared library be loaded by several processes simultaneously without synchronization of code?
Here's the specific scenario: the method in the shared lib is likely to be called from any of the several processes and the method performs file IO. Does the method have to be protected with critical section, or does the process creates own independent "copy" when shared lib is loaded to memory?
What kind of objects should be used to protect the "shared" file in this scenario?
Thanks,
-V

A shared lib will act as if every process using it has its own independent copy of everything in the shared lib.

Any part of the shared lib for which independent copies would be required for correct behavior will actually have independent copies.

Only parts for which the behavior would be the same for shared vs. copied will actually be shared.

So you don't need to add any critical sections etc. to manage such sharing.

BUT, if multiple processes are doing file I/O to the same files, you do need to manage that. That fact is completely independent of whether or not that file I/O occurs in a shared lib (so the code to do the file I/O is shared).

So your situation might require some synchronization (critical sections or other methods) to manage the file access, even though it doesn't need any for the use of the .so.