pthreadmutexattrdestroy

The pthread_mutexattr_destroy function is part of the POSIX Threads (pthreads) library, a standard for creating and managing threads in Unix-like operating systems. This function is used to deallocate the storage used by a mutex attribute object.

When a mutex attribute object is created using functions like pthread_mutexattr_init, memory is allocated to store its attributes. As these attributes are no longer needed, it is important to release this memory to prevent memory leaks. The pthread_mutexattr_destroy function serves this purpose.

To use pthread_mutexattr_destroy, you pass a pointer to the mutex attribute object that you wish to destroy. It's crucial to ensure that the mutex attribute object is valid and has been previously initialized. Calling pthread_mutexattr_destroy on an uninitialized or already destroyed attribute object results in undefined behavior.

After a mutex attribute object has been destroyed, it can no longer be used for creating new mutexes or modifying existing ones. If you need to use the same set of attributes again, you would need to re-initialize a new mutex attribute object. The function returns zero on success and an error number if an error occurs. Common errors include EINVAL if the attribute object is invalid.