Reentrancy (computing)

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In programming, reentrancy is the property of a function or subroutine which can be interrupted and then resumed before it finishes executing. This means that the function can be called again before it completes its previous execution. Reentrant code is designed to be safe and predictable when multiple instances of the same function are called simultaneously or in quick succession. A computer program or subroutine is called reentrant if multiple invocations can safely run concurrently on multiple processors, or if on a single-processor system its execution can be interrupted and a new execution of it can be safely started (it can be "re-entered"). The interruption could be caused by an internal action such as a jump or call (which might be a recursive call; reentering a function is a generalization of recursion), or by an external action such as an interrupt or signal. This definition originates from multiprogramming environments, where multiple processes may be active concurrently and...

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